Normally, a lunch with the ruling princesses of Equestria was something that all of the now Mane 7 looked forward too. While at one time it had seemed daunting, now it felt almost normal.

Starlight was still a bundle of nerves. But Celestia's earlier comments to her, and the ease with which most of her friends seemed to enjoy this time, she too began to lighten up.

Spike and Shining Armor had left to tell Twilight Velvet and Night Light what was happening with Twilight, for they had every right to know as much as the rest of them did. Rarity had to excuse herself to handle some crisis or another at her local boutique, but the others had stayed in the castle, wanting to be there when Twilight came back.

So when a wave of energy washed over them, it got all of their attention as they looked at each other in confusion.

Celestia, though, bore a look of shock and almost horror. "Oh, Twilight. You didn't?"

"What did Twilight do?" Rainbow asked.

Celestia and Luna shared a look. "That was somepony going into Trans-Am and a powerful surge at that. I have not felt one in a long time," Celestia replied after a moment.

Fluttershy perked up at the mention of that. "You mean like?"

Luna shook her head, smiling a little. "Nay Fluttershy. While it functions the same and has the same effects, it is pure magic-based, compared to Celestial Being's."

"So what is it?" Pinkie asked.

Celestia looked thoughtful for a moment. "It is a rush of pure magic that floods a pony's essence, boosting their bodies far and above their normal limits. But there is a danger in using it."

"Like what?" Cadance asked, looking worried.

Luna's ears dropped. "Trans-Am has a finite time limit before it cuts off. A pony's magic is drained after using it, and the physical exhaustion from a surge cannot be described unless you have felt it yourself."

Celestia nodded, her expression grim. "That is not all. A pony can extend the surge past the time limit, but they risk everything if they do. In the best case, their magic is forever exhausted and they will never be able to use magic again."

Applejack looked grim at the thought. "And the worst case?"

Celestia shook her head. "It will kill them as their body overdoses on a level of magic nopony was ever meant to handle. Starswirl made that mistake, and it cost him his life. The Pillars never came back together after his death, even though Stygian tried to keep them together."

That shut everypony up for a moment as they tried to digest all of that. It was easier said than done. "So how come we've never heard about it?" Pinkie asked.

Luna chuckled. "It has never been a widely known ability, though it is an ability everypony possesses. I am surprised Twilight knew of it, though not as much as I might have once been."

Applejack nodded, pushing her hat up to her brow. "I told her about it. Never thought she'd use it."

Celestia nodded, not completely shocked to know the Apple Family knew of Trans-Am. "What we just felt was the most powerful surge I can ever remember feeling. We only felt it because we are so close to Twilight personally. Others will not have felt it."

Starlight thought still looked worried. "Is Twilight alright?"

Celestia and Luna paused a moment, feeling their fellow alicorn out, before Celestia nodded, smiling. "Twilight is indeed still alive, though sorer, I feel, than she has ever been in her whole life."

That got a chuckle out of everypony at least.

***

As Twilight finally struggled into the kitchen, she swore to never, ever, do that again. Never before had walking twenty feet felt like walking to the other side of the world. And that was on top of her magic is gone like it was.

At this point, she would just be happy to get something to eat and not worry about how much literally every part of her body burned and hurt in a way she had never thought possible.

Dragging herself over to the fridge, she wrapped a hoof around the handle and pulled it open. With no magic, she was back to doing everything with her hooves. Oh, joy.

Luckily, the fridge was stocked with all the things she normally liked, aside from a serious lack of hayburgers, so she didn't have to worry about going hungry. Grabbing an apple, Twilight took a bite as she closed the door. It had never tasted as sweet as it did now. She would even say it rivaled the ones from Sweet Apple Acres.

She swore not to tell Applejack that though. She'd never hear the end of it.

As she sat down at the table, munching on her apple, Twilight tried to get her thoughts into her order. It was now apparent that whatever this place was, it was not going to be a simple hop, skip, and a jump, to get back out of here.

She still had no idea of how long she had laid out there like that. While the exhaustion from coming down from that high was beginning to recede, at last, she was still not ready to try and do that again.

But she couldn't stay here forever, as much as she wanted to. At some point, she would have to go back out and face that again. Something she wasn't looking forward to.

"What I wouldn't give for a planner," she mumbled, taking another bite. Even if she did have one though, with no magic to call on, she was left with mouth writing, and she could hardly call that writing.

There was a reason that Spike did most of her correspondence, aside from wanting to help his big sister of course. He had never complained about it much at least.

But that still left her without a plan of action or any idea of what she was supposed to do next. And if there was one thing Twilight was proud of, it was always having a plan. But how could she plan for this? She didn't have very much to go on with this place.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had said that their own experiences were different from each other's, which more than likely meant that whatever was in here, was unique for herself, and her alone.

Normally Twilight wouldn't mind that. But today was proving to be the exception. Her lack of everything that defined her as Twilight Sparkle was upsetting now that she could think straight. But at the same time, it gave her something to think about at least.

While her horn had been something that had been with her for her entire life, her cutie mark and wings had been earned through accomplishing something unexpected and unknown. Did that mean she would have to do the same things again to get them back?

"But how?" She thought aloud. Hatching Spike's egg had never been part of her test at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, as she had learned years later, and it had been the Sonic Rainboom that had triggered her magic surge that had hatched it in the first place. There was no way she could replicate that effect again, even if she had wings.

Her wings. As much of a serious pain in the backside as they had been those first few months after her coronation, she missed them now that they were gone. They were now as much a part of her as the horn was, and she felt naked without them.

Oh sure, she would never be as fast as Rainbow Dash or ever make into the Wonderbolts, but Twilight could now keep up with the vast majority of Pegasi.

Not that they would be much help around here though. This place seemed small enough that walking from one room to another wasn't much of a problem. Outside though? That was another thing. But if Twilight couldn't overcome the gravity as it was, she was never getting off the ground.

"Maybe that's it. If I can get around this stupid gravity, maybe everything else will fall into place," Twilight grumbled, as she tossed the apple core into the trash. It wasn't much of a plan, and a part of her was shocked at how much wasn't said in it. But Twilight would take anything at the moment.

As she left the kitchen though, her hooves turned not back toward the front porch. But toward the bath and spa room. The soreness from earlier was much more manageable now, but she still hurt all over.

"Maybe a bath and a nice long rest will help my nerves," Twilight said, as she dragged her sore self to the promise of some relief.

Author's Note

I can now confirm that Equestria does indeed have Mobile Suit Gundam manga. Fluttershy and Luna are fans, hence that little tidbit.Why not? As for what happened to Starswirl and the Pillars? His death caused them to separate for good, though they all remained friends, and Stygian never went to the dark side. So now they never went to Limbo and died long ago.