The Accident
Twilight mumbled to herself as she walked around the magic mirror, examining it from every accessible angle. Several paces away from her was a tool box, laying open, with its contents open and spread across the crystal flooring. Gripped between her teeth currently was a Phillips head screwdriver, as she analyzed the construct, and tried to determine how to proceed.
Unfortunately the screwdriver was useless to her right now. To make use of it, she'd need to hold it at an angle she simply couldn't get to. She'd need to first make use of a socket and ratchet wrench to move another piece of equipment out of the way, before she could get to where the screws were at.
"I really should've thought this design out a little better, before I constructed it," she said to herself as she deposited the screwdriver back on the ground, before retrieving the needed tool. "I really should've done what those humans in the movie do, and included a single connection point that would disable everything in the event of an emergency," she sighed, lips wrapped around the handle of the wrench as she made her way back around to behind the mirror.
This would've been so much more convenient if she was human, and could more easily utilize the tools for this project. At the very least she wouldn't have to taste the steel against her tongue, if she had hands to manipulate them with. But that simply wasn't the case, and she had to make due with what she had available to her.
"Twilight?"
Her attention was broken from the task at hoof with the mirror, and brought towards the direction of the door. She saw Spike and their friends standing there, gathered in the doorway, with Rainbow Dash casually hovering in the air. Spike looked concerned, while the others just looked curious about everything.
"What exactly are you doing?" Rainbow Dash asked as she hovered into the room.
Twilight was about to answer, but realized the wrench in her mouth was going to make that difficult to do. She set the ratchet down on the floor, before moving back to address her.
"I'm busy disconnecting the machinery from the magic mirror," she explained, gesturing to where the mirror currently rested. "Spike, I'm glad you're here. Could you swap out the socket for the next bigger size so I can get these lag bolts loosened up?"
"Uh... sure?" Spike replied, still not certain what was going on, but unwilling to just stand around.
"Ya mind if Ah ask ya somethin', sugarcube?" Applejack asked as she stepped into the room. "Ah reckon ya got good reason an', all, but how come yer doin' this like yer an earth pony? Why ain' ya usin' yer magic?"
"Well that would certainly be simpler, but right now my magic is a little indisposed," Twilight answered, before gesturing at her horn. Or more accurately, the ring resting halfway down the length of the horn.
Rarity squinted as she looked at the ring critically. To the untrained observer, it might pass as tarnished silver. But she had seen enough silver to know that it was anything but. This was nothing but polished wrought iron.
"A restraining ring, darling? Really? That's positively barbaric! Why would you ever wear something like that?" she asked, disgusted by the idea.
"A what now?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at Rarity for clarification.
"It's a device designed to keep a unicorn from accessing their magic. Usually it's just used in a judicial role when addressing a wrongdoing, although there are more unsavory applications its found a role in..." Rarity explained, equally disgusted by such. "Don't ask," she added, shutting down whatever was going to come out of Rainbow Dash's mouth next.
"Well that explains why yer not usin' yer magic. But why exactly are ya wearin' somethin' like that in the first place?" Applejack asked, more curious than before.
Twilight was about to explain the reasoning behind her actions, but stopped when she realized just how much time it was going to take to do that. Instead she simply gestured over to the lid of the tool box, where a rolled up scroll rested.
"It would be simpler if you read that," she stated simply.
Pinkie approached the tool box and picked up the scroll, the others approaching close behind to read what it had to say as it was unrolled.
Dear Princess Twilight,
I'm writing to inform you that the sun began experiencing increased solar activity sometime yesterday afternoon, resulting in a series of solar flares taking place across the sun's surface.
These solar flares pose no danger to Equestria's safety and well being, so there's no need to worry. They appear every few years, and have done so for many centuries without issue, although I don't know why they exist, or if there's a significance to either their timing, or their duration.
The primary hazard posed by the appearance of these solar flares tend to be limited to inconvenient interference with electronic devices, so impact will overall be minimal for the most part.
My primary reason for writing you about this, however, lays with the presence of the magic mirror, and is the chief reason that I had it put into storage in the first place. And seeing as it's now in your possession, you need to be made aware. Being an interdimensional portal, its stability is something we still don't fully comprehend. While it's primarily a theoretical issue at present, it's entirely possible that the magnetic interference from solar flare activity may interact with the magical field generated by the magic mirror, even when it's dormant. This is especially so, considering the technological additions you've included for the purpose of opening the portal at will for journeying between the two worlds.
Much as I hate to admit, there's an absence of scientific data about the validity of the theory, as I've always restricted access to it during these periods, to ensure the safety of everyone.
For your own safety, I would recommend disconnecting your modifications to prevent any unforeseen developments from occurring. I would further caution against utilizing any sort of magic within the presence of the mirror if at all possible, as it may trigger a cascade effect during this time.
Please be safe.
Signed, your friend and mentor,
Princess Celestia
There was a sudden lack of questions being asked in the aftermath. Everything was now making perfect sense in the context of Princess Celestia's letter.
"So... why'd Princess Celestia move the magic mirror here, if she knew this was gonna happen?" Applejack asked as she looked back at Twilight.
"Yeah. Isn't that, like, super irresponsible to do?" Pinkie asked.
Twilight just shook her head as she sat the ratchet back on the ground. "Princess Celestia's letter said that she didn't know anything about their timing, only that they occur every few years. That's hardly a specific measure of time. I'm guessing that she was expecting them a lot later in the future," she explained. "Applejack, you're really good with your hooves, could you help me with this? I don't have nearly enough experience to do this manually, and I need constant pressure being applied to one bolt, so I can get in and continue disconnecting everything I used to get the mirror functioning again."
"Um... what if we just lock the door?" Fluttershy asked, speaking up for the first time since they found Twilight toiling away at the magic mirror. "I mean... we already moved it to this room for storage and safe keeping, and there are no windows to it. Wouldn't it just be simpler to lock the room shut, so nopony could get in until it's safe?"
Twilight stopped her working, and turned around to look at Fluttershy. The meek pegasus shrunk back in response, acting as if she'd just said something that was very wrong, and should've just kept her mouth shut.
"That's... actually a very good idea, Fluttershy. It's so simple, but it makes so much sense! If there's nopony around in the room, then there's no risk of a cascade event being triggered. I should've thought of that myself!"
"Nice thinking, Flutters!" Rainbow Dash stated in a proud tone and raised her foreleg. However she quickly realized that Fluttershy was way too timid to actually meet her in return of the gesture, so she brought it back down.
"I can't believe I didn't think of that. Princess Celestia even said it in her letter," Twilight mumbled as she gripped the restraining ring between her fore hooves, and pulled it off her horn, nearly sighing in relief of feeling its burden removed from her. "Let's get out of here," she said as she dropped the ring to the ground, no longer needing it.
"Right behind you, darling," Rarity replied, relieved to not be facing any sort of crises right now. This was nothing but a problem that could literally be swept under the rug... or in this case, covered by a sheet to prevent dust from gathering. Just a quick flick, and the only thing left to do was shut the door behind them.
"NO!"
The sudden yell from behind startled Rarity, causing the sheet to drop to the floor as she jumped.
"Rarity! The letter said not to use any magic around the mirror! The results could be unpredictable!" Twilight yelled, a mix of anger and panic filling her voice as she spoke.
"I'm sorry, darling, it was purely out of habit!" Rarity stated in horror.
All eyes were on the mirror in an instant, inspecting it for any signs of something happening.
Much to their relief, nothing was happening. It looked no different than it had just a few minutes ago.
"Alright. I think we're alright. Let's just get out of here before something else happens," Twilight stated.
The others all nodded in agreement, and slowly began backing out of the room slowly, as if the slightest vibration could cause something bad to happen.
And then somepony sneezed, and sneezed loud.
Twilight didn't have a clue as to who it was that sneezed, nor did she get the chance to ask, as the question died in her throat as the surface of the mirror started shimmering and wobbling.
"Fffffudgecicles!"
There was a groan as the reflective surface of the mirror changed to display a swirling vortex. But it wasn't the same type of vortex that appeared the last time Twilight had gone through the mirror. This coloration was a lot darker, and more sinister. It looked like the sky over the Crystal Empire when Sombra had returned, and was trying to break through Cadance's shield.
And then the groan slowly grew into a roar, as the floor of the palace began to tremble.
The next thing they knew, the mirror was quickly being encased in Twilight's force field, cutting it off from the rest of them.
"This could get to be very bad, very quickly. Everypony, get out of here, quickly!" Twilight ordered.
"Um, we might have a little problem here," Rainbow Dash spoke up.
Twilight turned to look over at Rainbow Dash, and blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing anything. For whatever reason, her friends' mane was flowing outward, like wind was blowing it from behind. All of them were starting to display the same thing; even herself. But that couldn't be possible, unless...
"Oh no," she groaned, the realization hitting her like a grand piano. "Can anypony move? Back out of here?" she asked.
"Ah'm tryin', but Ah ain' getting nowhere," Applejack stated as she tried backing out of the room, but looked more like she was simply walking in place. "What in tarnation is goin' on here?"
"I think the vortex is starting to exert a gravity well on the area, that's pulling all organic matter in the area towards it. It's even managing to pull on us right through my force field, like it's not even there!" Twilight stated.
"Well let's stop talking about it and get the heck outta here!" Spike stated as he made a mad dash for the doorway. But much like Applejack, he wasn't getting anywhere in a hurry. If anything he was actually losing ground.
This was very, very bad. Not only could they not get away from the mirror, it was actually starting to succeed in pulling them all towards it. And it was starting to pull them a lot faster than before, like the gravity well was increasing in strength. By the time Twilight thought about teleporting them all out of the way, it was already far too late, as it would require dropping the shield first. And it was at that time, that they were all more or less slamming into the shield, with it being the only thing separating them from the vortex.
"Twilight, do something!" Rainbow Dash shouted, finding herself being sandwiched between the surface of the shield, and Pinkie being pressed into her back.
"I can't! I can't get us out of here without dropping the shield!" she stated in response as Spike clung to her back.
"Can't you, I dunno, expand the shield outward and push us away from it?" Spike asked her.
"I wish I could, but that would just make the matter worse. The gravity well is obviously increasing at an accelerated rate. If I tried pushing us away with the force field, we'd likely wind up getting crushed to death between the two fields," she explained, already feeling the force being exerted on her ribs reaching the unbearable level.
"My head feels like it's going to explode!" Fluttershy stated desperately.
Their options were terribly limited right now, and Twilight knew it. If she maintained her force field, it was possible that they could wait out the gravity well, and the vortex would just close. But it was equally possible that they'd be crushed flat before that ever happened. The only other option she could come up with right now, was dropping the shield, and letting them all be sucked into the vortex, with no guarantee of what would happen, or where they might even wind up. They could end up at Canterlot High, or an entirely different location, with no way of getting back home. She didn't even know if they'd all wind up in the same place.
"Twilight, just do something already, please! I think my eyes are gonna explode if I open them again!" Rainbow Dash pleaded.
So that was it then. The gravity well was showing absolutely no signs of letting up, and their bodies were already showing signs of physical strain from being sandwiched here. They really didn't have any other options available to them now.
"I'm sorry, everypony," she apologized, before cutting the flow of her magic to the shield, allowing it to dissipate, and leaving them to be pulled into the vortex, and cast who knew where.