The Canterlot Disaster

The Canterlot Disaster is the name given to a large explosion that took place in the area East of Equestrian City. The explosion was massive, and tremors were registered as far as the inside of Central Equestrian City. It also was the cause of the infusion of Magic world wide.

History
The explosion was the result of an un-measurable amount of dark magic meeting with untainted magic. The cause of the mixing was two fold:

The Sirens (known as the Dazzlings) possessed three gems, all of which were charged to the limit with Dark Magic. They had easily filled their gems using their inherent abilities to manipulate the local High School’s population and siphoning off their discontent.

A group of students were unaffected by the powers of the Sirens and mounted a counteroffensive against them at their final staging ground: The Battle of the Bands, where everyone had gathered. They had hoped to stop the Sirens in their tracks with the help of Twilight Sparkle, who had recently come back to this world via a magical portal located somewhere in or around the front courtyard of Canterlot High. The two groups finally matched off and their magic output peaked when the Siren’s manifested their true forms in astral projections and began to dive bomb their opponents. The Rainbooms in turn fought back using their own form of magic. It was not enough to overpower the Sirens, and they soon gained the upper hand, leaving one girl standing after the attack. The girl fought back bravely and the tide began to turn again in the favor of the Rainbooms.

Explosion
There is no precise account by anyone who was able to be interviewed about what happened next. Suffice to say, something triggered the two magics to slam into each other similar to the effects of a Uranium slug hitting a mass of the same compound at high velocity. The almost nuclear payload of the explosion sent a 360 degree shockwave out across the entire globe. Effects of the wave included structural damage on a massive scale from ground zero out, where the outer layers of Equestrian City were left shaken but not touched by the concussion wave.

Fallout
Secondary effects were not immediately known until much later: The wave had taken what had made it, magic, and sent all forms of it to every corner of the globe. Those touched by it had different effects. Some were left untouched, some were left with powers that later manifested, and some were simply killed instantly. The amount of those affected is estimated in that of the tens of thousands, but these numbers cannot be confirmed as the resulting chaos that ensued when the powers manifested made tracking them all problematic for local governments.

Immigration and Relocation
Canterlot High School and it’s surrounding area were immediately declared a No Man’s Land and sealed off by all local cities and governments. Those that survived the explosion were evacuated to the nearby community of Equestrian City, where they were given medical treatment and housing. Despite the good will of the city, several pockets of civilians opposed the immigration of the nearby culture due to their vast differences to those that lived in the city by majority. Citing differences including naming conventions and the fear that the survivors might be contaminated with some sort of biological agent, the transportation of the refugees was less then flawless. The local government stepped in and quelled the uproar and after a brief campaign promoting understanding and generosity, most opposition settled back down.

Approximately 50% of the population was moved into Equestrian City, the others were moved to nearby communities, while others took to other means of housing, leaving the continent altogether at times to such exotic places as the Sombra Empire and Equalestria to the East.

The implications that soon were discovered after investigating the explosion led to the revelation that there was not only magic present in this world, but there were in fact alternative dimensions. At least two such travelers from that world were said to be trapped in the current world, though reports from other agencies indicate more than two are present as of this writing. The public uproar from the immigration was nothing compared to that which occurred when these facts were brought to the inhabitants of Equestrian City. For almost a year, the media and the public questioned, interviewed, scorned and blamed the members of the Rainbooms, including the two non native humans. Eventually, all the facts were presented in the Equestrian City Courts and all were cleared of any charges and the explosion was ruled accidental.

Observation of the No Man’s Land continues, as reports of dimensional tears in the actual fabric of space and time are occasionally reported. No further beings are noted as having made it in to this day.