Chapter 48

– A World Without Magic –

“Huh. I’ve never seen the Cloudsdale weather factory. Look at those thunderclouds kids.” Tala said, sitting in between a bunch of students.

“Yeah, they look so cool. Cloudsdale makes all the weather in Equestria, Professor Dash?” Comet asked.

“Sure does, all in that factory. Then we ship it all across Equestria through our detailed weather schedule. Every rain storm, every cloudy day, every snowflake, all planned and accounted for in there.” Rainbow said, her chest puffed up in pride.

Comet poked her aunt, “Look Auntie Tala, they’re moving the storm clouds out!”

Tala looked and sure enough, several pegasi were pushing the storm clouds in special suits.

“How do you move storm clouds without getting zapped?” Gallus asked.

“We use special insulated flight suits that protect us from the electricity. Can’t have anyone getting fried on the job.” Rainbow answered.

Everyone nodded and continued to stare in awe at the factory. Ocellus pushed her hooves against the clouds and giggled.

“I’ve never walked on a cloud before.”

Comet grinned, “I know right. Starlight taught me a spell that lets us walk on clouds, like a pegasus.”

“Pretty cool stuff kiddo. And here I thought this was gonna be a boring trip.” Tala smirked.

Comet hugged her aunt's leg, “Thanks for coming Auntie Tala. Starlight was really upset that she couldn’t chaperone.”

Tala pet the filly’s head, “Eh, it’s no big deal. Besides, someones gotta keep you kids out of trouble.”

Gallus looked over the edge of the cloud, “Hey Yona, come check out this view. Unless you’re scared?”

Yona, who had been clinging to a pegasus student’s leg, stomped her way towards him, “Yona not scared.

As she said that though, she started to sink into the cloud. Soon after, she started free falling, “NOW YONA SCARED!”

Comet gasped and tried to call on her magic to save Yona, but nothing happened. Then she started to sink into the cloud, right in front of her aunt. She looked back at Tala and disappeared through the cloud. She was falling, she was screaming. What just happened?

Tala immediately went to catch Comet, placing her on her back while the other fliers caught the rest of the non-fliers. Ocellus and Gallus were the ones who caught Yona.

“It’s ok Yona. You like flying, remember?” “ Ocellus said.

“Flying, not falling.” Yona pouted before her friends let her down onto the ground.

“I’m so sorry Yona. I don’t know what happened. My magic just stopped working.” Comet said.

Tala looked at her niece with concern. Something was wrong.

“I wonder when Comet and the others will be back?” Starlight asked.

“Miss your student already, Starlight?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, it just isn’t the same without her. No offense Twilight.” Starlight said.

Twilight smiled, “None taken. I’ve seen how close you two have gotten since she came here. By the way, where is Trail? I figured you’d be with him.”

“He, Zala and Zecora went into the Everfree for another expedition. I love that stallion, but you know I’m not much for the great outdoors.” Starlight said.

“Yeah, I remember that time we tried to take you camping.” Twilight said, cringing a bit.

“I had swamp algae in my mane for days!” Starlight yelled.

The doors to Twilight’s office burst open, Rainbow Dash soared over to the desk, “Twilight, we got an emergency! The students fell out of the sky!”

Both mares looked at her in shock, “What!?”

Starlight immediately wheeled over to Rainbow and grabbed her face, “Did anyone get hurt? Where’s Comet!?”

Twilight used her magic to separate the two, “Easy Starlight. Rainbow, what happened?”

“We were on the clouds checking out the weather factory. Comet used the cloud walking spell, but then kids started falling through the clouds. We barely caught everyone in time.”

“I’m glad everyone is alright. Maybe Comet did her spell wrong.” Twilight said.

Starlight puffed her cheeks at the mare, “No way. She did the spell perfectly in our last lesson.”

Twilight went to levitate a book from her shelf, but it almost immediately fell from her magical grip.

Starlight gave Twilight a deadpan look, “Maybe you did your spell wrong.”

A thump on the door alerted the group to new arrivals, Fluttershy opened the door, “Rarity ran into the door.”

“My magic is gone! I even had to use my hooves to quaff my tail” Rarity cried, turning to show her messed up tail.

“Still think there’s nothing to worry about.” Rainbow said sarcastically.

“This doesn’t make any sense, magic just can’t disappear.” Twilight said, starting to pace back and forth.

Trail pushed himself through the last patch of brambles and finally made it out of the forest. He would have just cut through it, if his magic was working.

“What is going on brother? What happened back there?” Zala asked.

“I don’t know. My magic just spurted out, I can’t feel it anymore.” Trail said, rubbing his horn.

“A most concerning situation indeed. We must make for Princess Twilight with great speed.” Zecora said.

“Agreed. Maybe she’s got an idea of what’s going on.” Trail said, looking towards the castle in the distance.

Before they could take another step, Tala landed in front of them.
“Tala, what’s going on? I thought you were supposed to be on a field trip with Comet.” Trail asked.

“We got trouble. Comet’s magic failed, and it looks like more ponies at the school are losing magic.”

Trail immediately went up close, “What happened? Is Comet ok?”

“She’s fine. No one got hurt. But the Princess is heading to Canterlot to meet with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. My bet is the magic problem isn’t just here. Princess Twilight asked us to stay at the school with Starlight.”

“Alright, let’s go everyone.” Trail said, leading the way to the school.

As they walked through the town, more ponies were having trouble with their magic. Unicorns were dropping things, and running into doors. It was starting to cause a panic. Trail braved through the crowds and found himself at the school.

As they walked inside, he saw Comet and Starlight talking to each other. With his filly in sight, he went right for her and picked her up in a powerful hug.

“Sweetie, thank the Princesses you’re ok.”

“Daddy, you’re crushing me.” Comet said, her voice strained from the tight hug.

“Let her breath Trail.” Starlight said, rolling over to nuzzle him.

He relented on the hug and nuzzled his marefriend.

“So what’s the plan?” Zala asked, having caught up.

Zecora and Tala stood with the group as well.

“Twilight and the others are meeting with the Princesses. They left us here to take care of the kids. She said to allow them open study hours or the option of exercising in the courtyards. I think we can divide them into groups and give special lessons to calm their nerves about the magic crisis.” Starlight said.

She turned to the zebras in the group, “Zala, Zecora, could you cover a cooking class? Maybe some baked goods will ease everyone’s nerves.”

Zala nodded, “With pleasure. Come Zecora, let us show these children how it is done.”

“Lead the way my dear, for when it comes to baking you have no peer.” Zecora smiled.
The zebras left, leaving Tala and Trail.

“Tala, Trail, how about you two manage the exercise court? Set up a game and keep the kids happy.” Starlight asked.

“Oh yeah. I know what these kids need. Dodgeball!” Tala exclaimed.

“Oh no…” Trail facepalmed.

Before he could voice his concerns, Tala had already flown in the direction of the equipment room. Trail sighed, “What have we done?”

He turned to kiss Starlight, and give his daughter a peck on the forehead before rushing off to make sure his sister didn’t kill anyone with her latest game of Extreme Dodgeball.

Comet looked up at Starlight, “What should I do?”

Starlight looked at the filly, “Go find your friends. Try to treat it like any school day. Soon as Twilight comes back, I’m sure she’ll have a solution.”

Comet smiled and ran off to find her friends.

“So, we’re just supposed to sit here waiting for Headmare Twilight to figure things out?” Smoulder asked with a huff.

“Not like we have any clue what’s going on. We just gotta have faith in our Headmare.” Sandbar said.

“Sandbar right, Yona knows Headmare pony will fix magic.” Yona said, sitting next to Sandbar.

“But what if she can’t fix the magic? Even I’m starting to feel drained.” Ocellus said, rubbing her own horn.

“All we can do is wait. I’m sure things will get fixed. Your turn Silverstream.” Comet said, looking to the hippogriff.

Silverstream rolled the dice, “10!”

She moved her token across the game board between Comet and her, landing on a spot. Comet picked up a card.

“Ok Silverstream, your category is Heroes of Equestria. Which of the Pillars of Equestria’s famous artifacts is a flower?”

Silverstream jumped in the air, “Oh oh. I know this one! It’s umm…”

She thought for a moment, then raised her claw, “AHA! Mistmane!”

Comet smiled, “Correct!”

Silversteam cheered and landed back on the group, “I love this game. Who knew a trivia game could be so fun?”

When she said that, she held up the box, “It’s All Equestrian to Me.”

“You sure you don’t wanna play Gallus?” Comet asked the griffin.

“Nah, I’m good. My bits are on Silver to win.” He said, laying on a beanbag.

Silverstream giggled.

“Yeah, we know.” Smoulder said in a teasing tone.

Gallus blushed and huffed, turning away from the dragon’s teasing smirk.

“My bits are on Comet. And trust me, that is the safest bet.” Starlight said, rolling up to the group.

“Hi Starlight!” Comet said, jumping up to hug her teacher.

“Hey Comet. I see you kids are making yourselves comfortable.”

“Any word from Headmare Twilight?” Sandbar asked.

“Not yet. But they should be back soon. Hopefully they figured this out. Magic doesn’t just disappear.” Starlight said worriedly.

“Headmare Twilight never lets us down. So no need to worry. Come on Comet, your turn.” Silverstream said.

“Oh right.” Comet rolled the dice.

She rolled a 7 and moved her token. Silverstream picked up a card, “Ok Comet, your category is Villains of Equestria. Which dastardly fiend was the one who caused an entire empire to disappear for a thousand years?”

“King Sombra, that’s way too easy.” Comet said confidently.

“Ding ding ding! That’s correct!” Silverstream cheered.

“I don’t think I’ve even been to the Crystal Empire. Daddy says it’s really dangerous out in the frozen tundra. Can’t really explore it safely.” Comet said.

“Maybe we can go visit after this whole magic thing blows over. My old friend Sunburst lives there. He knows a lot about magic, I bet you two would get along great.” Starlight said.

“Really!?” Comet said excitedly.

The school intercom suddenly buzzed to life, “Would Starlight Glimmer please report to the Headmare’s office?”

“Sounds like Twilight and the others are back. You kids keep playing, I’ll check it out.” Starlight said, rolling towards the door.

All the kids yelled “Bye!” Then received a collective “Shush” for making too much noise in the library.

“So you really think Tirek is responsible? I thought he was stuck in Tartarus.” Starlight asked.

“He still is as far as we know. But if he’s found a way to sap magic from the inside, we have to go check it out.” Twilight said, packing her bags.

“But how does one get into Tartarus?” Zala asked.

“There’s a doorway far away from civilization. It’s the only way inside and out. That’s where we have to go.”

“But without magic, how are you going to get inside?” Tala asked.

Twilight gasped, “Oh no! I hadn’t thought about that.”

Trail thought for a moment, his hoof tapping his chin before his face lit up, “Oh wait! I have just the thing you need.”

Twilight turned to him, “You do?”

“A key of Unfettered Entrance. I found it on one of my expeditions to the Badlands. It can magically open any door.” Trail said.

Zala cleared her throat, “You found it brother?”

Trail’s eyes went wide for a moment before he got a sheepish grin, “Did I say I found it? I meant to say my dear sister Zala found it.”

All the mares giggled at him.

He turned to Tala, “Sis, can you fly home and get it? It’s in my artifact chest in my room.”

“Roger that.” Tala saluted and flew off.

“You’re really gonna just give us such a rare artifact?” Twilight asked with excitement.

“What, you thought I would charge you? After everything all of you have done for my little filly?” Trail said, giving them all a raised eyebrow.

“This is gonna be awesome! We’re gonna bust into Tartarus and take it to Tirek!” Rainbow cheered.

Starlight wheeled over to Twilight, “You girls be careful. I’ll watch the school. Magic or not, I’ll keep the students safe.”

Twilight’s ears flattened against her head, “I’m sorry Starlight. All this talk about getting our magic back, I didn’t think about-”

Starlight put her hoof up, “It’s ok Twilight. Being without magic for these past few months has given me a new look on it. I shouldn’t let my disability stop me from doing my job. My magic isn’t gone forever, and after you girls get back I know I have nothing to worry about.”

Twilight hugged Starlight, “You’re the best.”

“Yeah, I know.” Starlight said smirking.

The Element Bearers headed out of the school and waited for Tala to procure the key. This left Starlight to take care of things in the school. Trail and Zala went back to their activities and Starlight wheeled herself down the halls of the school. She soon found herself in the library, but she did not see Comet and her friends.

“Huh, must have finished their game. Maybe they went to the courtyard?” Starlight said, turning her wheelchair around.

A sound coming from the back of the library stopped her in her tracks. A loud clang of metal was coming from the back corner, behind the last bookshelf. She wheeled herself over to where she thought it was coming from, and what she found was an open grate with a crystal sticking out of it.

“What’s this? I don’t think it is supposed to be here.” Starlight said, trying to lean over in her chair to peer inside the grate.

As soon as she did, a powerful magical force grabbed her out of her chair and dragged her down into the grate. She didn’t even have a chance to scream. All that was left in the library was her now broken wheelchair.

Author's Note

Hey guys, Hades here.

Another chapter done! What grabbed Starlight? It broke her wheelchair, that was rude.

Keep reading everyone, and see you guys next time