Spellbound

by PolarBear084

Rating: everyone
Tags: Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Discord, Slice of Life, Zecora
Length: 1648

When Twilight wakes up unable to cast magic, she starts to lose her cool. It doesn't help that the First Magical Symposium that she herself had organized is only three days away. Twilight needs to figure out what is wrong and fix it, fast.

Twilight Sparkle still isn't used to being a Princess. The nobility, the responsibility... the constant bowing of everypony. Still, she had been trying to carry on as best she could, even arranging Equestria's first ever Symposium for the Magical Arts and Sciences that would bring all the worlds greatest minds together on an equal footing. A truly fitting achievement for the Princess of Friendship.

Or at least it would be if Twilight hadn't woken up only three days beforehand without a single drop of magic. Now she finds herself in a race against time, desperately trying to fix whatever is wrong with her while keeping the Symposium afloat.

The only problem is, her friends don't seem to be all that helpful and Twilight just cannot figure out why.

Published 2017-05-02 21:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2017-05-02 21:30:01 UTC

- The Broken Princess -

Spellbound

Light. Light was the reason Twilight couldn’t get back to the blissful, dreamless sleep she’d been enjoying. It was seeping into her room through the window, refracting through the crystalline frame into a multitude of dazzling beams that burned into her blanket, scorching away any sleepiness that clouded Twilight’s mind.

She sat up and stretched, a very loud yawn escaping her in a fashion most un-befitting a princess, although Twilight never really saw herself on the same level as Celestia, Luna, or Cadance anyway. Despite the castle, the title, and the many times she and her best friends had saved Equestria from disaster, Twilight would always think of herself as just another pony.

Having climbed out of bed, she walked over to the window and rested her chin on her hoof, watching as the sun slid out from behind the horizon. The same light that had pulled her out of bed crashed down into the valley beneath, igniting the grass with a warm green glow and turning the once still meadows into a hive of activity. The relentless light continued, filtering through the trees and foliage until it wormed itself into nests and warrens, permeating through every barrier and calling all creatures of the land to step forth from the protection of the night and into a brand new day.

The princess had outdone herself.

Twilight found her nerves calming ever so slightly at the beautiful sight, and allowed herself a contented sigh. It might be true that, in only three days time, Twilight would be hosting Equestria’s first Symposium of the Magical Arts and Sciences at her own castle; an event so grand in its undertaking it would require the presence of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and wizards, witches, unicorns, shamans and every other form of magical being would be attending from across the world, but that was okay. Twilight wasn’t stressed about it and she certainly wasn’t going to lose her cool, like the one time she forgot to write to the aforementioned princess in nearly a week. She was prepared, she was collected, she was worthy of the crown that she never wore, but that she kept in a protective enchantment, in its secret hiding place in the library where nopony would think to look for it.

It wasn’t that she was afraid of it or anything. No, she simply didn’t like feeling above others. That was the only reason why she refused to wear the blasted thing. The only reason.

Twilight sighed again, slightly less contentedly this time. While she was happy with her responsibilities as the Princess of Friendship she still didn’t feel she quite fit the role, or maybe it was that the role didn’t quite fit her? It had taken many months of Rarity constantly explaining why the title of Princess was one that she simply had to use every now and then for her to stop wincing every time someone said it to her, and it would be many more months before the bowing would be anything less than embarrassing. The upcoming event was sure to be full of bowing and regal grandstanding, and even though she had organized it to be as friendly and equal as possible, she knew it was an unavoidable fact of her new place in society. Anxiety started to grow in the Princess's mind.

She suddenly stamped her hoof in defiance. “Twilight pull it together” she muttered. “You organized the Symposium as a way for all nations to come together as equals under the banner of science and magic. If some slight discomfort is required to achieve that, then so be it.” Satisfied with the few crumbs of confidence she had managed to scrounge together she walked to her bedroom door, gently pushed it open and made her way down the elegant, winding stairway to the main hall. Twilight took care to tread lightly past Spike’s room on the way down, the snores from the exhausted dragon wafting out through the solid oak door.

An unbidden smile crept onto her lips. What am I worrying about? she thought. The girls, the town, and especially Spike have been working so hard to make sure this goes off without a hitch. They are always there for me, regardless of the circumstances. Besides, Spike would work himself to the bone if he knew how frightened I was. I shouldn’t worry. Everything will be fine.

The smile grew as she slipped through the door at the bottom of the staircase and saw everypony’s handiwork firsthoof.

Glistening banners hung from the ceiling in deep reds and purples, swaying in the morning wind that wafted in from outside. Along the cold, stunning walls there had been tapestries and candelabras fitted bringing a warmth that the palace had sorely needed. The walls themselves had been polished to a sheen, casting a rich assortment of reds and ochre blues throughout the castle, and connecting each towering column of crystal, there was an unbroken swath of hanging silk (Rarity’s touch) that weaved in and out of complicated arrangements and cultures; from the strong, angular decorations of Yakyakistan, to the delicate, floral drapes of the Prench Equines.

There truly was nothing to worry about. The castle looked stunning, Twilight would also by the time of the event, what with Rarity’s mandatory all-day spa day she had planned, and she had scrolls upon scrolls of meticulously thought-out, finely detailed timetables that would ensure the event would go off without a single problem. Nothing could go wrong now.

With what could only be described as a playful leap, Twilight spread her wings and floated down the stairs into the main hall, landing gracefully and trying her hardest to image what it would look like once the floral arrangements were ready, and it was packed with Equestria’s brightest and best. Her smile grew larger with each step.

Upon reaching the large kitchen, Twilight reached into the cupboard and pulled out her favourite oats. They were locally grown and cut, and Twilight found them better than anything she had tried while at Canterlot. She was surprised when she found herself performing her breakfast making duties by hoof, but she had been using her magic a lot recently in preparation for the Symposium so perhaps she just wanted to ‘relax’ her magic, as it were. Satisfied with her breakfast, she levitated it beside her and made her way to the study just down the hall, unable to draw her glance away from the decorations once again. She was so transfixed by the beauty that surrounded her, Twilight failed to notice that the solid oak door into the study hadn’t opened like she’d asked it to.

She collided with it face first.

“Ough!” Twilight shook her head in a daze, surprised at how much it had hurt. Rubbing her horn, she realized that her levitation spell had been broken and winced. Great, now she’d have to use a cleaning spell to remove the oatmeal before it stained the carpet! However, when she looked at the inevitable mess by her feet, she found no bowl and no oatmeal. Confused she retraced her steps to the kitchen, finding the bowl exactly where she had left it before the levitation spell. Had she teleported it back here on instinct? Surely not she thought. Even I’m not that fast with spells.

Shaking her head, Twilight once again picked up the bowl with a levitation spell and went to leave the kitchen. She would have succeeded too, had the bowl in question actually moved from its spot on the counter. Annoyance was seeping into the Princess’s eyes now, her brow furrowing slightly as she stared down the offending breakfast. And then the annoyance changed to a devious glint. She had decided that if her breakfast refused to be levitated, then it would be teleported!

Closing her eyes, a mental image of herself in her study swam into view. She was standing next to the sofa, triumphantly holding the oatmeal above her head. It seemed appropriate. But instead of the usual tingling sensation that came with teleporting, that would start at her horn and travel down her body to her hooves, she felt nothing. Slowly, Twilight pried her eyes open and with a less-than-amused huff, realized she was still in the kitchen and the oatmeal was standing stoic, exactly where it had been all along. Now Twilight had had enough. She was Princess Celestia’s student, the Princess of Friendship, and the Element of Magic! She would not let herself be bested by a smug bowl of oatmeal!

She picked up the bowl with her hoof, making sure that it wasn’t another one of Pinkie’s pranks and that it wasn’t super glued to the counter. It seemed fine though, so Twilight put the bowl back down gingerly deep in thought. Why couldn’t she levitate or teleport it then? After all the bowl seemed fine, Twilight hadn’t sensed any resisting magic within the bowl or the oats.

And that was when it hit her. A thought so monumental in its implications that Twilight had to take several deep breaths to even process it. What is the problem wasn’t with the bowl, but with herself?

That would explain why the door to the study hadn’t opened, why no matter what spell she thought of the bowl refused to be phased by it. It would explain why, even now, as Twilight desperately used every spell she could muster on any valid target within a few feet, absolutely nothing was happening. Tears welled up, and she crumpled into a heap on the floor, sobbing wildly.

Twilight Sparkle had lost her magic.

Author's Note

Despite my best efforts, typos and errors will always slip through the cracks. :facehoof: Please let me know if you find any, via comment or PM :twilightsmile: