My Little Pony: Magic Ripped Away

It was a perfect sunny afternoon in Equestria. Ponies were outside enjoying the beautiful summer heat, basking in the sun with friends and family alike, creating new memories, and forging new bonds. The pegasus forecast stated that the weather was to maintain its perfection for the next few days at best, so ponies had plans for those few days, and for a certain group of six, it was certainly no different.

On a hill under a large grand oak, a red and white picnic blanket was set across the grass in the shade, and two baskets full of an assortment of goodies were placed within. Giggles and chuckles came from the six ponies who sat, stood, or hovered nearby, all of them clearly enjoying their day.

“So, I, of course, being the mare I am, told her to kindly take her bits and leave or else I would take action myself.” Rarity said, holding her muzzle high, snorting before giggling. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pony give me such a shocked face.”

Twilight chuckled at the words, looking over at Rarity. “Well, I don’t think many ponies have ever pushed you that far. I mean, when was the last time you’ve snapped at a pony beside her?”

“Well, you’re right, I suppose I do not often show the average pony my true colors,” Rarity agreed, tapping her chin with a hoof. “It’s bad for business, really.”

“Pssh, and what? You’d let that pony trample all over you just so she could get what she wanted?” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof and shook her head, her eyes blazing. “Oh, you’re lucky you’re so patient. I would’ve kicked their flank and sent them on their rump on the streets!”

“You’re exaggerating, dear,” Rarity said, looking over at Rainbow for a few seconds before looking away. “Actually, I don’t think you are…”

“I’m not, because I can’t handle spoiled ponies as well as you can,” Rainbow responded, crossing her hooves. “I’m not made for the stuck-up noble business.”

“Same here,” Applejack said from Rainbow’s left, sitting and eating a slice of apple pie. She swallowed before speaking again. “Your patience is something to be admired, Rares. Honestly, with how Canterlot nobility is, I don’t think anypony would miss ‘em if they were gone.”

Rarity chuckled before pushing a hoof through her mane, flipping it back. “I guess I do have more patience than the common pony.” She said, wearing the praise like a golden medal.

“No, you guys haven’t seen the truest patient pony!” Pinkie Pie suddenly butted in, drawing everypony’s attention. “I mean, duh, she’s sitting down right next to us!”

“Who’s that, Pinkie?” Twilight asked, tilting her head as she watched Pinkie wave her hooves around like she was about to do a magic trick.

“A pony who never gets mad at friends and foes alike, a pony willing to deal with a horde of upset ponies just to calm them down and get some peace and quiet! A pony so kind and compassionate that not even the most villainous villain has ever backed her into a corner! Of course, I’m talking about…!” Pinkie Pie continued to wave her hooves around in circular motions as a drumroll from nowhere played, no doubt drawing everypony’s attention as she suddenly shot her hooves out and pointed at a specific pony. “Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy’s ears perked as her face reddened. “M-Me!? Patient? No… I don’t think I’m that patient. Oh, I could hardly stand to be in a crowd of angry ponies for longer than a few seconds…” She lowered her head to the ground and Pinkie shook her head.

“Nonsense! You did it just last week! Remember when everypony was about to lose their minds after Carrot Top didn’t harvest her carrots on time? It was like a horde of angry mares and stallions threatening to topple civilization! But you calmed them down and reassured them that Carrot Top was working her hardest to get all the carrots ready to be sold.” Pinkie Pie rattled off, making everypony else nod and hum in agreement.

“Truer words have never been spoken, Flutters,” Applejack nodded her head and smiled. “I ain’t ever met a pony as kind and as patient as you.”

“Seriously, we’d never ever replace you for anypony else!” Rainbow Dash flew over to Fluttershy and landed next to her, bumping her slightly. “You rock, Flutters.”

Fluttershy didn’t know how to react to the sudden amount of praise and kindness sent her way, so she just whimpered happily, tears in her eyes, as she smiled up at them. “Thank you, girls… y-you don’t know how much that makes me happy.”

Twilight nodded as well, dipping her head slightly. “There’s no need to thank us, Fluttershy. You’re as important as any of us. Without you, we’d be nothing.”

“Agreed, darling,” Rarity stepped forward, flipping her mane before smiling down at Fluttershy. “Honestly, to have you at the boutique with me… oh, I’d shower you with affection! You’d be able to help out with so many things, especially with dress designs. Have I ever told you how much your opinions helped with my dresses? They…”

The conversation faded into incoherent praise and ramble, the six ponies sitting, talking, and eating whilst enjoying the feel of the warmth in the air and the gentle breeze that would pass through every so often, chilling them enough to counteract the heat that built. It was a perfect sunny afternoon in Equestria…

But the atmosphere began to change, slowly, subtly, the wind’s gentle chill dying and the warmth of the air losing its soft invitation. The conversation amongst the six ponies died down as the feel of the air changed, causing none to escape the shiver that overcame them.

“Is it just me, or… did the world just get weird?” Rainbow Dash said, flapping her wings once with idle worry as she began to trot in place, looking around. The others agreed, the change, whilst slow, was still sudden, and the environment around them began to feel… unwelcoming. They’ve all lived here for many years, excluding Twilight who was basically as familiar with the town and its surrounding fauna and flora as them, but never have they ever felt something like this before.

“No, it’s not just you, Rainbow…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she looked around nervously, her wings twitching as she felt a minute difference in the air outside of just the temperature and wind. The magic. It felt… off. Slow, wrong, and dare she say it… horrifying. The change in the flow of magic in Equestria was no laughing matter, and her brain instantly kicked into overdrive. Something was very, very wrong, and this time, it wasn’t just a weather factory malfunction. Could it be a monster? No, the change was too widespread. A spell? No unicorn could change the weather this much, not even Twilight could and she was an alicorn. A villain? The only villain she could think of that could do this was Discord, but not only was he reformed, but this wasn’t his style. “Do you feel that, Rarity?”

“Yes, I do. I’m not as well-versed in the magic science as you, Twilight, but…” Rarity shivers involuntarily, feeling a wave of nausea pass over her. “Talk about wrongness like I’ve never felt before.”

But if they thought they were feeling it bad, Pinkie Pie began to spaz out, her tail, legs, and entire body twitching wildly. “I’ve never felt a Pinkie Sense reaction like this before, and I thought I knew ‘em all!” She said, only slightly panicked as she recovered from the episode. “But, my senses are telling me that… something big is about to happen!”

“Like what, Pinkie?” Applejack asked, hoping for at least some sort of clue in the matter, but before she could get a response, that’s when they heard it. A low, deep thrum, flooded their bodies, the air crackling with sudden tension as the noise only began to rise, the noise growing louder, the pitch growing higher.

“What… is that?” Fluttershy whimpered, her ears pinned against her head as she shivered, her body low to the ground as the very atmosphere trembled under the onslaught of the noise.

“I don’t know…” Twilight took a step back, her mind only finding blanks as she tried to understand what was making the noise. She’d never heard such a powerful, widespread noise like this before.

The thrum grew only louder, the pitch rising exponentially as the entire world seemed to pause in anticipation, the tension growing thick enough to cut with a butter knife, but then… it stopped at its peak. Everypony held their breath, sensing as if this wasn’t the end, but instead, the beginning.

“Is it over?” Rarity breathed out, not daring to move a step. The group was silent for a few seconds longer before it all came crashing down. With a loud, inverted screech, the air itself seemed to split, everypony screaming as pain washed over them. Their bodies warped and strained under the sudden intense force that tore into them, all of them collapsing onto the ground. Twilight in particular screamed the loudest, translating her pain into vocalization. All in the span of less than five seconds, she felt all of the magic inside of her coil up in her extremities, the feeling similar to fire before it all exploded outward explosively. Her hooves split and cracked, her wings flared, her feathers snapped and bent with excessive force, and her horn cracked right down the middle, the tip of her horn snapping off as her magic aggressively escaped her body, disappearing into the air before it all ended, leaving Twilight on the ground motionless, the pain still pulsing in her body in fast waves, her breathing rapid and ragged as she tried to comprehend it, failing miserably as she stared up at the sky.

The world was silent for the next 15 seconds, Twilight coming to grips with the pain coursing through her before she rolled over, her muscles screaming in protest as she rolled onto her stomach, her legs splaying in every direction around her, but in this new position, she saw her friends.

Applejack was on the ground on her side, her hooves cracked violently, all four bleeding minorly, but she was more importantly unconscious, sending a shiver of worry down Twilight’s spine.

Rainbow Dash was on the ground, her wings splayed open, revealing her now-damaged cerulean feathers, every single one bent, torn, or split in a different way. Her eyes were locked on the sky, her magenta eyes wide and shaking with trauma, but her hooves weren’t cracked.

Rarity was unconscious on the ground on her stomach, her horn horribly cracked in three places, more than one piece of it having chipped off and fallen to the ground. Her breathing was quick and shallow as she lay there, making Twilight grimace.

Pinkie Pie was lying there, her hooves cracked and bleeding minorly, staring off into space on her side, her breathing quick yet steady.

Fluttershy was lying on the ground, unconscious, her wings in a similar state of disrepair to Rainbow Dash’s, but then her eyes shot wide open, her blue eyes shaking, her pupils shrunk to pinpricks as she took a deep, shuddering breath. “AAAAHHHHH!!!” She let out a screech full of nothing but raw, unfettered pain, her body trembling as she rolled over, her wings flopping around uselessly as she screamed again, squeezing her eyes shut as tears poured down her face.

Applejack’s eyes shot open at Fluttershy’s screams, quickly flying to her hooves before stumbling onto the grass, hissing in pain as she took in the extent of the damage to her hooves. “Dammit… ow…”

Pinkie Pie, however, stood up slowly, her broken hooves compressing under the weight of her body, drawing a wince from her as she walked over to Fluttershy, limping heavily. Once she reached her side, she collapsed next to her and began to speak soothing words. Fluttershy’s screams lessened, going from loud screeches to pitiful sobs and whimpers as she held her face in her hooves.

Twilight watched all of this happen, looking down at her own fractured hooves and her two shattered wings, wincing as she stood. The pain was nearly unbearable, but she stood tall, feeling her body wobble, weaker than usual. She looked up, saw the broken tip of her horn barely at the top of her vision, and grimaced at the sight. It’s fine, all of this can be fixed with a spell…

Twilight gasped loudly, stumbling back, drawing the attention of Applejack. “No, no, no…” Twilight mumbled, shaking her head as she looked at the ground, her body shaking.

“What… is it, Twi…?” Applejack strained out, finally getting to her hooves and balancing herself.

“My magic, all of it…” Twilight looked up at Applejack with a terrified look in her eyes, her purple eyes widened to the limit. “It’s gone.”