"We have an emergency!" Starlight announced as she ran into the office.
"The students dropped out of the sky!" Rainbow Dash added.
"Slow down. What happened?" Twilight replied.
"I cast a spell for our field trip to Cloudsdale, but my magic just failed." Starlight explained.
"I literally just said all that." Lionel replied.
"Yes, but Twilight didn't know." Cherry reminded him.
"Ah..." Lionel replied.
"I'm glad you're all okay, but I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, Starlight," Twilight said to the unicorn with a small, humble smile. "Maybe you did your spell wrong. Let's take a look," She then used her horn to take out a book, but it then fell flat to the floor. "I didn't drop that book."
"Maybe you did your spell wrong?" Starlight mocked.
Lionel snickered at that.
"Ow!" A voice yelped with a thud.
Lionel soon opened the door with his hand to see a pegasus and a unicorn in pain.
"Rarity ran into the door." Fluttershy told the others as she flew in.
"My magic is go-o-o-one!" Rarity soon cried dramatically. "I even had to use my hooves to coif my tail!"
"Dah! Uh... It looks... Unique..." Cherry said nervously.
Lionel saw and immediately began to try and stifle his snickering as he wrote down more possible jokes in his notepad.
"Still think there's nothing to worry about?" Rainbow Dash muttered to Twilight.
"This doesn't make any sense. Magic can't just disappear," Twilight frowned. "Something has to be causing this."
"This is reminding me of something..." Patch commented to himself.
"Um, didn't we learn in class about a creature that eats magic?" Cozy Glow soon piped up. "Ter, Tee... Tir-something?"
"Tirek?" Twilight asked.
"I musta missed sum'thin," Lionel replied. "What the heck is a Tirek?"
"Tirek is a demonic centaur," Atticus told Lionel. "We faced him when we visited Twilight before she got her own castle. He eats the magic of others, and we soon defeated him with our Elements of Harmony."
"But, isn't he trapped in Tartarus?" Rainbow Dash reminded.
The doors soon slammed open and Spike rushed in, but he appeared to be gagging.
"Spike, what's wrong?" Twilight asked the young dragon.
Cherry soon pushed her hoof against Spike, letting him burp out a scroll.
"Thanks. I've never had a letter get stuck before," Spike said in relief before checking the scroll. "It's from Princess Celestia! We've all been called to an emergency meeting in Canterlot! Look!"
"Fascinating..." Lionel replied.
"Pretty sure I know what it's about." Twilight told the others as she couldn't properly read the scroll since her horn was useless.
"Come on then, let's get to Canterlot!" Cherry told the others.
Darla and Amber looked a bit worried themselves about what was going on, but they went along anyway.
"I can't seem to use much magic either," Drell frowned to the others. "Something must be terribly wrong."
"Uncle Drell... What's happening?" Phoebe pouted.
"Guess I was right," Lionel replied. "It's a powers outage all across the planet."
Phoebe gasped to that.
"Oh, uh, don't worry, Bebe, it'll be okay." Drell smiled comfortingly.
They soon came into the castle once they were let in to see the Alicorn sisters.
"Throughout our city, ponies have been reporting tales of their magic failing," Princess Celestia told the group which included Twilight's sister-in-law, Princess Mi Amora Cadenza: AKA Cadence. "Spells going wrong. Potions not working."
"Even raising the moon has become difficult," Princess Luna added. "Are there similar troubles in Ponyville?"
"That would be a yes." Lionel replied.
"We experienced it first-hoof." Twilight added.
"It's the same in my kingdom," Cadence frowned. "The Crystal Heart seems safe for now, but I worry if this continues."
"What else could go wrong?!" Cherry yelped before falling flat, melodramatically.
"Way to jinx it." Lionel remarked.
"Letter for the princess from Star Swirl the Bearded!" A mail pony gasped as he ran over with a letter.
"That cannot be good." Cherry groaned.
Spike took the letter and flew towards Princess Celestia to show her what it was all about and she began to skim through it.
"Ah! It is even more terrible than we feared!" Princess Celestia gasped. "Magic is disappearing all across Equestria!"
"Told ya that ya jinxed it." Lionel replied.
Cherry groaned and face-hoofed herself.
"Star Swirl believes the power will drain from our land in three days," Princess Celestia told the others. "First, unicorn magic and spells will fail."
"That's what's happening now." Starlight panicked.
"On the second day, creatures will lose their magic abilities." Princess Celestia continued.
"Ooh, that's not good," Lionel replied. "You guys won't have any powers!"
"Oh, no!" Fluttershy gasped.
"And finally, magical artifacts will stop working," Princess Celestia soon concluded the letter. "When the sun sets on the third day, the magic in our world will be gone forever!"
"But Drell's not FROM Equestria!" Cherry reminded.
"That may be, but his magical aura is among Equestria, so it'll affect even him and maybe even Atticus as the Alicorn Prince of Strength!" Princess Celestia alerted.
"Also not an Equestrian native, either." Lionel raised his hand to point out.
"I advise you to be very careful then, you might get hit next since you're in the area." Princess Celestia advised him.
"But why is this happening now?" Cadence asked.
"That's the worst part," Princess Luna frowned. "We have no idea."
"Well, that's just peachy," Lionel groused. "Something bad's happening, but we don't even know what's causing it OR how to negate its effects!"
"Has anypony checked on Tirek?" Cherry asked before oofing.
"You mean the big, red, scary centaur who eats magic?" Pinkie Pie replied, leaning her front hooves onto Cherry's head, squishing her slightly. "Why would we wa-Ohhhh. Riiiiight."
"If he has found some way to escape his prison or work from within it, he could be responsible for this." Princess Celestia stated.
"That is the best explanation so far," Princess Luna agreed. "Somepony should investigate."
"Naturally, the group who's maybe dealt with Tirek before?" Lionel suggested.
"Lionel is right," Twilight agreed. "We'll go."
"Oh, no-no-no-no-no-no. Not without us, you wo-" Rarity objected at first until she heard what Twilight said. "Wait. Did you say 'we'?"
"I've finally learned that it's okay to count on your friends for help." Twilight smiled.
"Took ya long enough." Atticus teased.
Twilight gave him a look before looking over to the rest of the Mane Six. "Um, you do want to come, right?" she then asked.
The others all replied in agreement. "Sounds like a yes to me." Lionel replied.
"Thank you, all," Princess Celestia told them all. "We will search for ways to protect Equestria in your absence."
"Be careful. Tartarus has changed since you were there," Princess Luna cautioned. "It now holds many dangerous creatures, and you won't be able to rely on your magic."
"Ah, no worries, you guys," Mo smiled to the Alicorn sisters. "We've got this."
"Here's hoping," Lionel replied. "Best of luck, you guys."
"Hold on! You aren't coming?" Cherry asked him.
"Well, if you wanted me to, then okay." Lionel replied.
"I'm sure you can help somewhat," Cherry said. "I mean, the strongest magic in this world is friendship."
"It's cheesy, but I guess it works." Lionel shrugged as he went to join them.
"We're all in this together." Cherry said.
Pinkie Pie looked like she was about to sing.
"No. No, no, no." Cherry begged, covering Pinkie Pie's muzzle.
Phoebe, Darla, and Amber still looked concerned.
"We have to help them." Phoebe said to them.
"Definitely." Amber agreed, and Darla nodded at that.
"But how?" Darla asked.
"Hmm... I'm not sure... But we can't just sit here." Phoebe frowned.
"Exactly! You three will need to stay here in case something happens," Lionel replied. "Keep an eye on that Cozy Glow kid...she's about as trustworthy as Cruella or her misbegotten niece Ivy..."
"Ivy..." Amber sighed in memory.
"Why do you say that, Lionel?" Phoebe asked. "Cozy Glow seems so nice and helpful. She doesn't look like she could do anything wrong."
"Think about it: nothing is EVER that cute without some kind of ulterior motives behind it," Lionel explained. "In short, nothing is as it seems. Keep an eye on her, but make sure she doesn't know you're watching. She might try to throw you off her trail...or into a broom closet."
Darla's eyes widened before she shuffled her hoof. "I guess Cherry told you about me, huh?" she then guessed since she knew what Lionel was talking about.
"Eh...more or less," Lionel replied. "Also, I've seen that situation happen in plenty of other cartoons. But I also know that you changed for the better."
Drell soon pointed sharply and Thor came to the young fillies.
"I have to babysit you monkeys." Thor glared slightly.
"Suck it up, Thor." Drell reprimanded him.
"I don't see why I have to babysit while everyone else has the funnest time ever." Thor complained to his uncle.
"Adventures aren't all fun and games," Lionel replied. "Things can and often WILL get very dangerous, so we need someone back at home base to help out if things get too rough."
"Hmph." Thor still pouted out of jealousy.
Lionel shrugged. "Well, you can't please everyone, I suppose. Let's go." he replied.
"Don't have too much fun without me, K?" Thor pouted.
"You'll be fine, buddy." Atticus smiled and comforted his best guy friend.
"Yeah! So, let's get on out there!" Lionel replied triumphantly.
Thor waved to them as they began to leave the throne room before smirking. "Okay, monkeys, I'm in charge, that means you have to do what I say! Ha-Ha-Ha!"
"I hate it when he does that whenever Mom and Dad are gone." Phoebe told Darla and Amber.
"That's going to get annoying quick." Darla agreed.
"Thornton has a big head sometimes." Phoebe replied.
Thor soon picked up the girls on his back and carried them off, leaving the castle to babysit.
"Aren't you coming along?" Patch asked Drell.
"I think I should wait with Celestia and Luna over here." Drell replied.
Lionel shrugged. "If you like," he replied. "Besides, I dunno what it would be like to lose my powers...they've been with me since I was a baby...without them...what does that make ME?!"
"A super fan of Batman who lives with Mummy?" Drell smirked playfully.
"YOU THINK THIS IS SOME KIND OF JOKE?!" Lionel snapped. "Without my powers, I'd be NOTHING! COMPLETELY, UTTERLY USELESS DEAD-WEIGHT!"
"Isn't that just what I said?" Drell raised an eyebrow.
Lionel angrily rolled his eyes. "NO!" he shouted back. "Besides...I wasn't even TALKING to you, so butt out!" he remarked.
"Bye then." Drell waved.
"Sorry about him," Atticus said to Lionel. "Let's just focus on saving the magic of the world before things get worse."
"And knowing how these things usually go, they just might," Lionel replied. "Besides, you saw how things went back there. How can I even be a help to anyone if I don't have any powers?"
"You can help, Lionel, I know you can," Atticus said. "We've all been through stuff like this before. We'll use teamwork."
"But my powers are the main thing that give me any purpose," Lionel replied. "Like I said back there, when I thought I was addressing you and the others: without them, I'm worthless. Dead weight. No help at all...and Drell having all the emotional tact of a runaway freight train doesn't exactly help things."
"Lionel, you don't need your powers to help, you can help out by being a good friend to all of us." Atticus smiled.
"I guess you're right," Lionel replied. "I just got so used to my powers being a part of my life that I guess I just couldn't imagine living without them. If I fell from really high up, I wouldn't be able to walk it off easily and recover fast. I'd be able to die."
"I'm sure it's tough, but it's going to be okay-" Cherry said. "Oh! What about the school?"
"Um... I could either close the school and let the students go home or leave someone else in charge?" Twilight suggested.
"What if a few of us were to go back and help keep an eye on things-preferably not dying-while you and your friends went to figure this whole situation out?" Lionel suggested.
"I'm sure you'll be okay, but maybe that's a good idea." Atticus agreed.
"Hmm... All right..." Twilight said.
Starlight appeared in the corner, giving a sheepish wave to them.