Your 'Friendship and Harmony' has failed you!" King Sombra said.
I hid behind a pillar, as the tyrant King Sombra threw the Royal Family in a cell.
"It won't last, Sombra! Twilight and her friends still have the power to bring you down. They will shatter you," Shining said with contempt.
Sombra laughed, a terrifying laughed. It stopped my breath, afraid that even a single small sigh will attract his attention. But my shivering never stopped.
"I have seen what the world has become since my death, and Equestria is beset by enemies all around, from the outside and inside. Harmony has no more place in the world, and no one is coming to save you,"
Sombra reared back, dark magic gathering at his sharp and twisted horn. Then he unleashed a terrible spell. The Royal Family screamed. I took the chance and ran.
"Come on! Move your flank, you idiot!" I said, galloping through a maze of dead bodies and other running creatures. By my side was Levin, a griffon of the Griffonian Republic. My friend.
Behind us, the city burned, and the dead we passed by, some who were once our friends, now walk again as servants of that evil witch.
We need to reach the gates, we need to run, run south till we reach New Mareland.
"Poppy, look out!"
I was suddenly pushed into an empty alleyway. I looked back at my companion, only to find his head, and his head only.
I screamed. But no one could hear it, because everyone else screamed. But no one could hear those be because creatures ran, the sound of a thousand hooves and claws desperate to escape her slaughter.
I ran, and I reached the gate.
Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and even the Unicorns have gathered in front of the Canterlot Palace. Their purpose, to demand the removal of magic and the abdication of the princesses.
The crowd had farmers, weather mares, engineers, and former mages. But there are also survivors. Survivors of King Sombra's tyranny, survivors of Rosa's conquest, and survivors of magical mishaps.
Long ago, they may have celebrated magic, and even relied on it. But in this age, magic has been replaced with wires and gears. In both daily life and war, magic has been replaced. Even Appaloosa has an automatic, machine operated, weather system. Pegasi need to only set the schedule, and the machine will take care of everything else.
These ponies have seen the terrors of magic, and what it can do to a defenseless pony. With the Alicorns being the most powerful magic beings in the nation, some are beginning to fear their capacity for destruction.
They are grateful for their ruler, but times are changing, and there needs to be a change in focus and management.
So the ponies of Equestria unite, as they always did, and sang their pleas to Celestia.
"Can you hear that aunty? They are singing! Your little ponies are so wonderful. They sing a song, and their problems get fixed right after," Blueblood mocked.
Celestia and Luna sat at their thrones, glaring at Blueblood while racking their brains for how to calm and reassure the populace.
"Sister, it would be my pleasure to vaporize thine impudent nephew. Where did this colt learn his manners?" Luna said, grinding her teeth.
"Calm down, sister. He's trying to goad you to violence; it would serve his cause," Celestia said warily, "I know what you're doing, nephew, another one of your schemes. What we need right now is unity!"
"Oh but your little ponies are united! Don't you hear their pleas, their scared voices?"
Through the pristine white walls of the Canterlot Palace, through its multi-colored windows that told of past glories, the citizens of Equestria could be heard. They are singing their loudest, and stomping their heaviest. The ground shook ever so slightly, making the elegant tapestries sway a bit.
Celestia flew from her throne to the front of Blueblood, "The implications of their request, so sudden and so large, will bring about many consequences! It is unreasonable, for a country that has relied on magic for so long, to abandon it!"
"Get with the times, aunty," Blueblood replied, "As we speak, Appaloosa even has their own machine operated weather system now! And all the other towns and cities are getting their own soon enough. We have no need for Pegasi magic anymore, nor Earth Pony or Unicorn magic. Especially not Alicorn magic,"
"So you would give up your own magic, then, Blueblood?" Luna has come down from her throne, and moved closer to Blueblood.
"I would. That means I won't have a chance to turn into another Nightmare Moon," Blueblood said smugly.
Luna looked furious, ready to pounce on Blueblood and smash his face on the moon.
But Celestia stopped her with a wing. It wouldn't do good to give Blueblood anymore material.
Their pleas are getting louder, and each crashing of hooves break Celestia's heart little by little.
They don't need her anymore, nor their magic. Or magic of any kind.
She just hoped the magic of friendship will remain, "They have suffered so much. A different leader is needed, for a different world,"
Luna stood with a gaping mouth at Celestia. Celestia stayed determined. Blueblood won.
Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all lined up on top of the stage. They focused their magic and poured all of it, every ounce, onto the purple crystal in front of them.
Now, they can no longer fly, or cast their spells, or be of any threat to Equestria.
And one by one, every Earth Pony, Pegasi, and Unicorn had their powers drained.
"Come on, Spade, its better this way! I mean, I'm thankful for the Princesses taking care of us for more than a thousand years, but the world is changing. We've got enemies everywhere now, and who knows when the Changelings would attack? It could be any day now," Bullet said, putting the dice back to the cup.
"Yeah, but they always solved everything diplomatically all the time. And magic made us unique," Spade said.
"No, it made you unique. You're just salty that you can't use your horns anymore,"
"That's beside the point. But it's still true that it made us unique. And Celestia and Luna were most powerful of us. Remember when she kicked out that huge dragon? It looked like a normal Sunday for her!"
Bullet mixed the cups around, when an Earth Pony entered the bunker. He locked it behind him.
"Hey Trapper! Spade's just complaining about her horn again. Come on, guess which of these cups have the dice," Bullet looked expectantly at Trapper.
Trapper took his gun and shoot both Bullet and Spade.
Outside, the sound of gunfire rang across the field, and tank threads rumbled the land.
Trapper reverted back to his old, chitinous and hole-ridden form, and reported back, "Hostiles down, sir, regrouping.”
Author's Note
I didn't, and currently don't, have the time to expand and polish the story, but I promised myself that I would pass a story for the contest. So here it is.
