Twilight Sparkle felt an odd disturbance in the Ether. It was as if somepony had used magic that was not magic. She made a mental note to look this up when she got back. It could have been a simple mishap with one of the students. Celestia knows how many times that had happened since the past few days. It did have the feeling of a failed spell, but just to make sure...

But first, she had to allay the paranoia festering in her mind. Several high-ranking nobles, eminent scientists, sightseers, and prospective students of her grand university were taking a tour of the campus tomorrow after her 8 AM lecture.

It just so happened that many of these ponies were unicorns.

While she hadn't become prejudiced towards her original race due to her ascension, the growth following her ascension meant that the tip of almost everypony's horns hovered dangerously at eye level. Considering that ponies had huge eyes in proportion to their skulls, Twilight wondered why optometrists everywhere weren't making a killing in eye-reconstruction surgery. A cold shiver ran up her spine.

The thought of seeing so many sharp objects ready to plunge into her eyeball with just a clumsy bump filled her with dread. She had to find a way to remedy this before she went insane.

Luckily, she had a plan.

Twilight levitated her etherphone out of her saddlebags and dialed an expert's number.

The phone rang twice. "Twilight! What may I do for you?"

"Rarity, I need your help with something."

"Why, what is it, darling? Do you have a suitor? I'll tell you what. You can come over and you can tell me all the juicy details over a cup of tea."

"It's nothing as...serious as that." Twilight had to bite her lip. "I need some eyewear."

"Either way, you simply must come over! I shall do what I can to help you!"

Twilight bade her thanks and ended the call, marching carefully out of her quarters. She was alert, ready to gently neutralize the threats to her sight. She had to be careful. A small voice inside her head was screaming at her to see her psychiatrist. Of course, all of the Elements had one. It was pretty much a job requirement, given their business of saving the world from corruptive, reality-warping, parasitic, or omnicidal threats on almost a yearly basis. She made a note to go do that too.

Thankfully, the company of friends, tea or cider, and relaxing sessions at the spa kept the terrors at bay.

She then realized that she had drifted off. And while she scolded herself, she realized that her eyesight -- and everything else, except perhaps her sanity -- was intact. Her third realization was finding out that she was now in front of the Carousel Boutique. It had been renovated with the income from Rarity's sales, giving it a posh minimalist modern look. It was now also staffed by more than one seamstress, and while most of the clothes were now mechanically produced, Rarity herself still worked on special commissions and prototypes.

Case in point, her saddlebags and winter coat. Both items were formally stylish, the bags an excellent complement to her the coat. She took a moment to admire her friend's handiwork, noting that the black, purple, and orange had just the tiniest hint of sparkle to resemble the twilight constellations. She wrenched her mind back to reality.

She steeled herself and entered.

The lobby very nicely done, if a bit too posh for her tastes. The receptionist was a teenaged filly named Diamond Tiara. The only noticeable change she had undergone over the the years, save for her growth, was the extravagance of the eponymous tiara. Twilight recalled her being one of Sweetie Belle's bullies.

Nevertheless, Twilight put a polite face on. "Good afternoon, Diamond Tiara. I am here to see Miss Rarity."

"She's busy." The filly gave her a fleeting glance before working a file over her hoof. "You have to wait for her to come down."

Twilight fought the urge to stamp a hoof. "Excuse me, but this is an urgent matter."

"I said she's busy. You'll have to wait until she’s done.”

She ground her teeth and opened her mouth to say something when a third pony interjected.

"Diamond Tiara, I am appalled!" Rarity stepped out of an elevator. "Is that how you would speak to royalty? Have you no shame?"

This time, Diamond Tiara did take her eyes off her hooves, snapping up to meet Twilight's steady gaze. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks and she shuddered fearfully, shrinking into her seat as she gibbered an apology.

"S--sorry Prin--princess!"

"It's alright, Diamond Tiara." Twilight spoke before she could even think of it. "But I do hope that you will consider others more politely in the future. I will go see my friend now."

Twilight joined Rarity in the elevator and rode to the top floor.

"My, my, Twilight!" Rarity chuckled as she led her into her workshop. "You handled that like a real princess. I am proud of you for having come such a long way."

Twilight blushed at the compliment. "You've come a long way too, Rarity. What with all this!"

"It's nothing. But pleasantries aside, I understand you are suffering from Horn-Eye Syndrome. It's quite common among ponies actually, and I can sympathize. Celestia knows how many times I've had to watch out for Sweetie Belle's horn."

Rarity levitated a trolley containing various styles of sunglasses over and provided her a selection to choose from. Many of the lenses bore the adaptive polarization technology pioneered by Direct Light. They spent quite some time just choosing the shape of the frame and the color of the lens, so they decided to have some dinner after the transaction concluded.

Twilight settled for something that she liked and moved to open her coin pouch.

Rarity clicked her tongue. "Twilight! You're my friend, I couldn't possibly take money from you for a favor!"

"But--"

"No buts!"

Defeated, Twilight closed her coin pouch. Rarity was just about to invite her for a cup of tea while displaying next year's gala gown when her phone rang.

"Fluttershy, how are you my dear? What?" Rarity's eyes widened in surprise, and then concern. "You can't be joking...are you?"

She pulled the phone away before looking at Twilight. "It's Rainbow Dash. She's suffered an accident! We're to meet her at Ponyville Medical, there are some complications you might want to look at, they said."

Rarity returned her attention to the phone, "We are on our way, my dear!"

A flash of light heralded their arrival at Ponyville Medical. Applejack galloped up to them just a few seconds later. She looked like she'd come all the way from her farm with all the sweat dampening her fur.

"You and yer fancy magics." She panted, fanning herself with her Stetson. "Where's Rainbow Dash?"

"I dunno, Applejack. We just got here." Twilight pushed the nausea accompanying a long-range teleport away.

"Then what're ya'll waitin for? C'mon!"

The three of them walked into the lobby where Nurse Readheart greeted them at the reception desk.

"We're here to see Rainbow Dash, is she awake? What happened to her?" Twilight asked the nurse.

A grizzled-looking unicorn stallion in a medical gown walked up to them. "I haven't seen anything like it before." He said.

"Like what?"

"Follow me. I am Doctor Condition by the way. Watchful Condition." The way he introduced himself sounded like he was ripping off a spy movie, and it didn't really work what with the gravely voice. That and the way he contradicted himself cast doubt on his competence.

"Pleased to meet you, Doctor." Twilight said as the three mares followed the doctor down the hallways.

They were inside Rainbow Dash's room before long. Machinery surrounded her, monitoring heartbeat, body temperature, and even brainwave activity while emitting a cacophony of beeps. X-Rays of her broken wing were lined up on the wall. Fluttershy sat by the bedside, exchanging whispers with Rainbow Dash. The smell of antiseptic lingered in the air, and Twilight found it hard not to wrinkle her nose.

Rainbow Dash waved at them as they entered. "Hey guys! Glad you're here!"

Twilight waved back, and then turned to the docto as the others gathered around her.

"Doctor, can you please tell me why you have this much equipment inside for a simple fracture?"

"That is only one part of the problem. Try to cast a spell on her and you will see."

Twilight was irritated by this enigmatic doctor's refusal to explain what was going on. Yet, something was off about Rainbow Dash. She had no magic. Not one quantum of it. The spell she'd cast simply washed around her, as if she was not connected to the Ether.

Rainbow suddenly pointed a hoof at Doctor Condition. "The doctor over here kept talking to me about some egghead horseapples I don't even understand!"

The doctor opened his mouth to say something, but Twilight stepped in on his behalf.

"You still play that Dungeon Adventurer MMO, right?"

The doctor glared daggers at her for being interrupted, and then backed off.

"Yeah, but what does this have to do with anything?" Rainbow asked.

"Okay, imagine that in the Ether, we're all players. Unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies are regular users." Twilight continued.

Rainbow Dash nodded.

"And we all interact with the environment in certain ways. Now, the lesser Alicorns like Princess Cadence and I are like moderators. We have access to more powers and abilities than regular players. The elder Alicorns like Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are administrators. They have such a command over the game that they're almost godlike."

"I get it." Twilight saw the gears in Rainbow's head turning. "So I've got something like a de-buff or curse right now, right? So I can't fly."

Twilight swallowed. "It's more like somebody pulled the plug on your Ethernet connection."

Rainbow Dash froze as that sunk in. "You can reconnect me, right?" She stared at her with hopeful, pleading eyes.

"I could." Twilight smiled reassuringly. "I just need to know what method was used to disconnect you in the first place."

"Thank you!" Rainbow Dash leapt up and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight's neck. "You're the best egghead ever! D'ya know that?"

"I'm going to have a nice long talk with whoever did this." Fluttershy wiped fresh tears from her eyes, her small voice carrying a steely edge.

"We'll get to the bottom of this, I promise." Twilight placed a wing around Fluttershy's shoulders.

"Doctor, can you excuse us for a moment," she said to the doctor with just enough of an edge to her voice to let him know it wasn't a request.

"Of course." He bowed out, closing the door behind him.

Twilight cast a silencing spell on the room, preventing eavesdroppers from listening in.

"Now hold on just a minute!" Applejack stepped forward. "You want to take on somepony who can take away ponies' magic just like that? D'you have any idea what he could do t'ya, Twi? When word gets out that they took down a princess, all sorts a' hay's goin' to happen. Remember what happened last time?"

Rarity spoke. "Applejack has a point. We are not going to risk your life, or your magic, to take down this... hooligan. Do you remember Chrysalis? I recall Blueblood setting up a coup after that!"

Twilight frowned as repressed memories bubbled up to the surface. She pushed them under. "Of course. Which is why we're not going to take him on directly."

"I have a suggestion." Fluttershy shrank behind her mane when everypony turned their attention on her, and then straightened up. "If we could take a look at where it happened, maybe we'll get some clues."

"That's true." Twilight levitated her phone, "I'm going to make a quick phone call."

Twilight knew this was going to result in a fiasco either way. There was a force out there that could cut ponies' connection to the Ether without so much as a trace. That strange not-magic a while ago might have been the culprit, but there was no way to find out until they met up with the forensics team.

"Rarity, did you feel anything odd earlier?" Twilight asked.

"Now that I think of it, I did. It was as if the Ether started spasming." Rarity shivered, "It was just so odd."

They stopped at the lakeshore near in a small, empty clearing. To their surprise, Princess Luna was there waiting for them. She was back from the diplomatic talks, apparently.

"Twilight Sparkle." They bowed to each other. "I had hoped we could meet in much more pleasant times. I trust you have debriefed your friends on what has happened."

She motioned towards a tent. "What has just happened represents a major threat to national security. I would ask all of you to swear to never speak of this to anyone not authorized. If you feel that you cannot do this, I would ask you to leave."

Nopony backed down.

Luna nodded, and suddenly, the area teemed with activity. Forensics teams worked over every square centimeter of dirt in search for potential clues. Twilight noted two covered lumps on stretchers and frowned.

"A hiker reported gunshots in the woods after feeling a strange energy in the area. We came here to find two bodies and a strange device. When word reached us that Rainbow Dash had lost her magic of flight in this area at around the same time, it became clear that the two events are interconnected."

"May I see the device?" Twilight asked.

Luna pointed to a small tent near the edge of the clearing. "Of course. It is being held in that tent."

"Uh, Princess?" Applejack cut in, "Might I ask what happened to the ponies who found Rainbow?"

"Please, call me Luna," she said as she turned to Applejack. "And it shames me to have done this but their memories have been scrubbed. They are under the assumption that a pegasus was hit by a wayward lightning bolt from the Everfree Forest."

"Oh, alright." AJ clearly looked uneasy.

"And by the way, where is Pinkie Pie? I have missed her parties." Luna glanced at Rarity.

"She is still in Prance, last time I have checked." For a moment, longing shone in Rarity's eyes. "I wish I could have gone with her."

"I shall send somepony to check on her then." Luna turned back to Twilight. "And as for your letter, this is my correspondence. Read it only when you have encountered my agent."

She gave her a sealed packet.

Twilight levitated the cylindrical device in front of her and broke it down to its component parts. She could see that the batteries and the power control matrices were burned out, but she figured she could replace them. What did intrigue her were the components themselves. She ran some analysis spells and found out that the enchantment matrices contained a material that had been banned from Equestria for centuries: Magnite.

Magnite acted as an amplifier in certain configurations, a conductor in others, and as a hybrid sink-insulator in rare others. That, and its material signature, was all that she knew of the subject. She levitated a sheet of message paper and a ball pen over, writing down a letter addressed to somepony who might know more.

She terminated the spell and reassembled the device. She rigged a power converter to the unit, plugged in the correct batteries -- ones from the defunct Griffon Empire -- and toggled the power switch. The device hummed and small LEDs built into its side flashed, possibly indicators of a diagnostic sequence. She couldn't understand the labels though.

She hummed. "Let's hope this works."

She aimed the device at an enchanted target and depressed the trigger. A wave of nausea passed over her as a bright light burst from the end of the tube. The scent of ozone stung her nose and it took all her effort not to retch. She gently lowered the device, noting that the target had stopped glowing.

"Okay. Phase one complete. Initiate phase two."

She tried to re-enchant the target, and the spell simply refused to work. A satisfied smile crept onto her lips.

"That was reckless." Luna stood in the tent's entryway.

Twilight realized what she meant and lowered her head. "Sorry."

"Nevertheless, we have found what we are looking for." Luna spread a wing over Twilight's back. "I suggest you might get some ... shut eye. It is almost dawn."

Twilight stepped out of the tent and into a twilit landscape. "Horsefeathers."

Author's Note

I'd like to say thanks to my pre-reader, Jioplip for pointing out the various errors and plot holes I've made writing this chapter! I suggest you check his stories out too.

So, this will be the second to the last chapter of the prologue. I shall post an interlude, and then the real fun can begin.