Dear Princess Celestia,
I was contacting you about a disturbing event that happened today in the hopes that you might be able to shed some light on it. I and a couple of the other unicorns here have noticed a major increase in power over the last few days. I tried to lift a pencil the other day, only to find a new hole in my ceiling. I don’t want to talk about what happened at Rarity’s boutique. The hospital barely managed to dig out all of the needles.
I need to know if this is a local problem. There are more unicorns in canterlot, so the effect should be much more noticeable there.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
To whom it may concern,
Considering that your letter was transported along one of Celestia’s personal channels, indeed, one whose existence was unknown to us, we can only assume that you were very close to the princess. Your name is listed directly below Princess Luna on classification table. Quite frankly, you may be privy to information that even I am not. For this reason, you will receive an honest account of recent proceedings.
Last night, the guards went up to check on her highness only to find a wall of flames blocking their path. The guards outside reported flames spewing from the windows as well. Eventually, the stone of the tower melted away, revealing a perfect sphere of fire. The sphere of flame is still there, but cloaked by an illusion spell. We can only conclude that Celestia is at the center of the inferno. Notably an illusion spell this powerful had never been attempted until today. To answer your question, the magic amplification effect is not local.
Until this situation is resolved, we ask that you please keep this information to yourself.
Eagle Eye,
Head of the Equestrian Intelligence Agency (EIA)
P.S. Letters of this type combust roughly ten minutes after being opened, so you might want to get it away from anything flammable.
The pair approached the orange glow at the peak of the mountain. The first tossed a stone, which slowed as it approached the orange light.
“What do you think?”
“It’s wrong.”
“What do you mean, wrong?”
“The only explanation I have is scaring me.”
“It’s a temporal anomaly, Isn’t it?”
“I believe so.”
The second’s horn glowed. As though in response the orange glow spread a little further, darkening to red at the center.
“Stop!”
“What?”
“It’s the temporal anomaly! I think it’s feeding off magic!”
General Notice: For all EIA agents rank 6 or higher
Luna is down, as is the backup, Twilight sparkle. We received a report first of a blue tinted shaft of light. It is reported to have been an accidental casting of the Invocation of Void. Casualties in Manehattan were kept to a minimum, but Luna seems to be sealed within the rapidly growing sphere of ice.
A rapidly expanding anomaly centered in Ponyville is also causing major problems. It seems to be an undirected application of raw telekinetic force mixed with random teleportation. The ever-increasing sphere is affecting the countryside like some strange mix of blender and hurricane. Evacuation orders are in place.
Our best team is working on finding a solution. For now, all agents are to get all magical devices and unicorns of level ten or higher out into isolation. We cannot afford more damage if this escalates further.
As of now, we are the head of the government. We can only hope to save the kingdom we have inherited.
Addendum 01:
According to the head researcher, a temporal anomaly is developing. It seems to be growing in response to the magic spike, signifying a connection. If it continues to develop, stopping it will become the chief priority of this organization.
Addendum 02
Due a catastrophic collapse in the chain of command, this document is hereby declassified and released to the general public. EIA is finished.
Transcript of conversation, Equestria Research Center:
“The theory doesn’t make sense.”
“Why not? The facts are pretty clear. Time is slowing and stopping because magic is becoming more powerful.”
“But why is magic becoming more powerful? Does it really fit that it would be causing this? I would think that magic would weaken if it were causing this.”
“I honestly don’t know.”
“So in reality, we may as well be back at square one.”
“What are the numbers saying? Do we have much more time?”
“We have three days before complete stasis.”
“I am afraid.”
“We all are.”
Observation Log: Universe 73, Branch 2, 34790 GST
Like most branches of Universe 73, instabilities in space-time provided the inhabitants with abilities that avoided such laws as cause and effect or thermodynamics. Because of these anomalies, visiting such universes has been impossible. However, in Branch 2, the instabilities focused more on time. This eventually caused the complete collapse. Near the end, we recovered a small scrap of parchment written roughly three minutes before final collapse. A transcript is enclosed alongside the other data. With this data we may be able to prevent another such instance.
We were to be married in a week. It was a scandal, I admit. She was the head researcher and I was just a grunt. She’s still standing there. I can barely make her out within the dull orange. I suppose this means her beauty will be preserved forever. Time is up. I have to get this written. I know what the problem was.
We spent our every waking hour trying to find a way to suppress magic. we reasoned that it was causing the temporal anomaly. We were laboring on a false and hopeful assumption. The reality is that time’s collapse was inevitable. Indeed, it was the reason magic existed in the first place. Now it is out of fuel.
Time is u-