The Convoluted Scientific Guide to Equestria and the Universe

Thirteen billion, seven hundred ninety-eight million, two hundred forty-four thousand, five hundred and sixty-one years ago (give or take 37 million years) the entirety of the universe was concentrated into a single point. All of reality, space, time, and matter existed within an infinitely dense speck smaller than an atom. And then it exploded, shattering the unified force of magic and science into two separate entities.

Our universe is made of eleven dimensions. As the universe began to expand, five dimensions of space and one dimension of time unraveled and expanded along with the rest of reality. The remaining five dimensions are either compacted or existing elsewhere, unobserved. The first three spatial dimensions became the visible universe today, while the remaining two became the astral plane, the origin of 61.9% of all magic (approximated from the energy surge detected during Princess Twilight Sparkle's ascension).

The plane is only reachable by an immense surge of magical energy, thus only alicorns, and soon-to-be alicorns are able to reach it (Twilight still won't tell me what it's like). The remaining dimension is time, which as we all know goes in one direction. However, magic itself is able to travel along all the dimensions by tapping into the astral plane, thus allowing greater freedom than our limited and dull three-dimensional world.

Anyways, shortly after the universe began expanding, all matter existed as quark-gluon plasma. This eventually cooled and condensed into normal matter, forming copious amounts of hydrogen and helium. At around 560 million years after the Big Bang, these dense amounts of matter condensed into the first stars, which were hundreds of times the size of Alpha Centauri A.

Nuclear fusion is what causes all stars to function. As the temperatures within a star's core were so high, the atoms became ionized and gained incredible amounts of energy. These atoms (usually hydrogen) would collide with each other, combining several times to create helium. Four hydrogen atoms (atomic mass of approximately 1 amu each) combined to form helium-4 (with 4 amu each). This process continues until all of the hydrogen is used, which causes the star to begin combining helium atoms together, creating beryllium and carbon atoms.

This process continues until the star reaches its limit (usually around the formation of iron-56 in this case) and its core begins to collapse under its own gravity. The massive star then expels its outer layers in an explosion so powerful and bright that it temporarily outshines an entire galaxy. This is called a supernova, and it is awesome. During a supernova, many atoms in the outer layer rapidly combine, resulting in the formation of heavier elements that would not normally appear during normal stellar nuclear fusion, like lead or iodine.

Eventually, these expelled remains of a dead massive star fly away at high velocities, until they are captured again in the gravity of a new forming star. These "second generation" stars are smaller, thus fusion occurs slower. This results in a dimmer glow, but a much longer lifespan (Similar to how a small flame burns away fuel slowly, while a large flame burns away its fuel rapidly).

It is good to note that our star, Alpha Centauri A, is a medium sized star, with a projected lifespan of approximately 10 billion years. About 4.6 billion years ago, our solar system formed a nebula (basically a cloud in space). As gravity caused approximately 99.9% of the matter to condense into the star. The remain disc-shaped cloud of debris coalesced into the planets, comets, asteroids, and moons.

Alpha Centauri B itself is believed to have formed early in the solar system's development (approximately 20 to 100 million years after the solar system began) by the early Centauri being impacted by a similarly sized planet, causing the surface of the planet to be blasted off. This debris formed a ring that eventually gravitated together to form the celestial body closest to our planet's surface.

The cause of Alpha Centauri A to begin orbiting our planet is unknown, but it has been hypothesized to have occurred between 1 and 3 million years ago, around the same period the use of magic tripled across the planet by its inhabitants.

The myriad of abilities and effects caused by magic is incredibly large, but ultimately is contrasted by existence of physics and science: the two are contrasting forces in the known universe. While there are four fundamental forces of science: Electromagnetism, gravity, weak nuclear force, and strong nuclear force; there are six for magic: Harmony, chaos, darkness, light, elemental, and quintessence. The six magical forces combine with their opposites (light/dark, harmony/chaos, and element/quint) to form the three forms of magic: position (as in up/down), personality (as in charm/strange), and power (as in top/bottom).

Magic itself takes on properties similar to elementary particles, which make up all matter in the known universe. The intellectual separation of magic and science was done  to simplify learning, as most foals (and a lot of  adults) are really confused by this sort of thing. In actuality, magic, for the most part, follows many laws and principles that were discovered via science.

Surprisingly, magic completely follows the law of conservation of energy. When undisturbed, magical leptonic particles (referred to as MLPs from here on) are extremely inert, only reacting with non-magical particles 0.0000000000000000000000341% of the time. They do not respond to electromagnetism and do not affect most measurements of mass. The magical core present in most species on Centauri is the source of magical power. It draws in magic from its surroundings, generally depending on the type (for example, pegasi draw MLPs from the air, while earth ponies and zebras draw them from the ground.)

This source of energy replenishes over time, seeping in from the astral plane to replace that which is drawn in by living things. This means that no matter how much magic a single pony uses, they will never completely run out, and it merely takes time to regain enough magic to reach a healthy norm. The only ways to prevent usage of magic is via the use of core-restraints, which come in two flavors: coats and shackles. Coats cover an entire body preventing magic from being absorbed or expelled. Shackles cover the expelling point, such as the unicorn horn, preventing the release of MLPs.

Magic works by transforming inert MLPs into reactive "normal" matter and energy, allowing work to be done by creating force. Conservation of matter and energy is kept because the energy comes from the astral plane. The astral plane in turn, gets its energy from the normal universe, due to the excess energy that piles up from the use of magic. Everything is kept in equilibrium.

When MLPs are induced into a reactive state, it initiates a process known as Fermion Incited Motion, or FIM. This is the basis for everything magical. All active magic exists in a state of constant vibration as a result of the enormous amounts of energy stored within each MLP.

Dark matter and energy, as they are called in some circles, are terms used to denote the mysterious 95.1% of the universe's matter and energy that cannot be observed, other than their odd effects on gravity and universal inflation. Like MLPs in their natural state, dark matter and dark energy do not appear to react with anything, and is largely unnoticed. It is however, a very convenient source of magic.

Dark magic. You've all heard this name fly around, discussed in hushed voices. Those rumors about a recent crime being associated with dark magic. An atrocity committed via forbidden spells. Artifacts of untold power corrupting the minds of their wielders.  How exactly, does this work?

In actuality, dark energy appears identical to normal energy when it is used by a unicorn or other magic user. Dark matter on the other hoof, is invisible and intangible, and requires special instruments and a lot of educated guesses to observe. Thus, most magic users are restricted to using normal MLPs and dark energy, with dark matter rendered "cool, but basically useless."

Dark energy, in the form of MLPs, can be utilized by anypony who tries. It is however, not safe to use. Well, I mean, everypony already knows that, but the reasons for it is complicated. While it appears identical to normal magic, dark magic exists in huge amounts of abundance, many times more in any given location than normal magic. However, for every single species on Centauri, the usage of dark magic in any quantity is hazardous to one's health.

This was incredible information back when it was discovered in 945 AD, as the Hayroshima mega spell device did not differentiate between normal and dark magic when it was detonated over the city. This lead to hundreds of thousands of ponies, dragons, and wildlife becoming inflicted to the first widespread case of multi-species dark magic corruption. Before then, it was commonly believed that dark magic only affected certain species, such as unicorns and griffons.

Many years of research since then has revealed that the magic organ present in many species were all derived from a common ancestor several hundred million years ago. This meant that while magic does vary greatly from species to species, they have many common similarities. The organ that absorbs magic is nearly identical in function across the board, and it has been noted to absorb only certain specific kinds of magic for use.

It is similar to diets of many species. Ponies for example, can consume vegetables, fruit, eggs, and grass, but get no nutrition from the consumption of meat. Griffons can eat meat, fruit, and seeds for nutrition, but consumption of grass does nothing for their health. Minotaurs can eat red meat and grass, but the consumption of a specific type of meat is fatal to them. Like the diet of many species, dark magic is not normal for the "diet" of magic users.

However, despite the universal dislike of dark magic (except in the case of zebras, but more on that later), it is actually used quite often. For ponies especially, the subconscious use of dark magic is a common occurrence. When stressed, ponies unknowingly absorb small amounts of dark magic, causing slight increases in paranoia, anxiety, and depression, as well as other symptoms associated with mental illnesses and breakdowns. This leads to the somewhat accurate claim that ponies, while generally easy going and nice, have the highest tendency to unexpectedly go completely insane in a short amount of time before returning back to normal.

High amounts of stress results in a small buildup of dark magic, while having generally short-term effects, has been known to cause real issues. Buildup in more powerful ponies tends to result in a larger pool of dark magic, due to their naturally larger reserves of total magic within them. This means that the more powerful a pony, the more dangerous their breakdowns are.

A good example is Twilight Sparkle, alicorn princess. Back when she was still a unicorn (the most powerful one alive), she suffered a breakdown back in the year 1001, when she made everypony in Ponyville fall in love with a doll, myself included. Needless to say, disaster ensued, with many injuries sustained and property damage totaling up to 11 588 Equestrian bits. I did have a good excuse to punch Mayor Mare the face, though. Worth it, in my opinion.

Of course, since not everypony is from Ponyville, another great example, the one with the record for longest lasting and most severe case of stress-induced dark magic corruption (SIDMC), is Princess Luna. Shocking isn't it? Since most of you should know the details (and if you don't: What? Were living on a rock farm this whole time?), I'll just say that Luna's feelings of neglect caused her to become stressed, which made her absorb dark magic, which caused her to develop depression and other issues, which got her more stressed, which made her absorb more dark magic, etc. until we got Nightmare Moon. There was also some evil nightmare parasite thing somewhere along the line, but that's minor.

If you're a pony, here's what you should do: First, don't worry too much about this. Worrying about it will make it worse.

Second, it's easy to work the dark magic out of your system. Perform basic spells such as levitation on harmless and nonliving objects (like a stress ball), run around, or read a book. Just work it off, or release some steam, as the saying goes. As your mind becomes happier and clearer, it gets better.

Third, know when it happens to others. A lot of the time, stress-induced dark magic corruption is caused by hurt feelings or misunderstandings, so try and talk to your friends about their feelings, maybe soothe them.

Fourth, this happens all the time. Usually in adults, when the magical organs are more developed. It also doesn't usually have long term effects. Only exposure to dark magic over long periods or infectious dark magical agents (long story) could result in long term effects.

SIDMC is a short term problem that is out there, but is almost always minor (unless the afflicted is ridiculously powerful, in which case, run.) It is believed to be some sort of evolutionary adaptation, as increased signs of stress may have meant increased chance of danger, and the pooling of excess magic may have been a safety measure to last longer in combat. Whatever the true reason for it, SIDMC has lost its purpose eons ago.