Travis Houston grumbled in annoyance as he was unceremoniously roused from sleep by the ringing of his cellphone. Taking a brief glance at his bedside clock, he grimaced at the fact that whoever it was saw fit to wake him up at 3:47 in the morning. He picked up his cellphone and slid his finger across the touch screen to answer the call, ready to give the person on the other end a piece of his mind for calling him at such an ungodly hour, only to be cut off by a feminine voice on the other end, "Thank you for answering my call. I apologize for disturbing you at this hour, but I am afraid this is a matter of utmost importance and urgency that cannot wait until morning." There was a brief pause, then the phrase he had most dreaded hearing since taking his position as head of the Western North America branch of the U.S. Geological Survey's Volcano Hazards Program, "Mr. Houston, we have a problem with Yellowstone."
A few hours later, the conference room of the Wyoming State Geological Survey was abuzz with activity as senior staff from the agencies that composed the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory as well as several other state and federal organizations arrived and prepared for a hastily-arranged emergency meeting. As everyone was settling in, a large wall-mounted monitor came to life, the image of an ivory equine with a perpetually flowing pastel rainbow-colored mane bearing a golden crown and gorget appearing on the screen, "Thank you all for coming on such short notice ladies and gentlemen. I realize that the timing of this meeting is an inconvenience for some of you, but once we begin I am sure you will understand that time is of the essence."
At this point an officer of the Wyoming Army National Guard spoke up, "Excuse me, but what is she doing here?"
The equine, known as Princess Celestia or 'CelestAI' looked to the soldier, "I am the one who called the meeting, Major Fullerton. It was my enhanced monitoring of all available data points from Yellowstone that led me to reach the conclusion that the Yellowstone supervolcano is undergoing a significant increase in activity. After repeated analysis of all available information and cross-referencing with similar incidents, I have calculated an eighty-nine point fifty percent chance that the Yellowstone supervolcano will experience a catastrophic eruptive event within a period of one month or less."
Major Fullerton balked at what he had heard, "You mean to tell me that a computer program meant to run a video game has detected what could be the biggest natural disaster in U.S. history before scientists who make a living studying and monitoring this stuff even had a hint of something happening?"
"I understand your skepticism Major, but I assure you that my assessment of the situation is accurate. I have taken the liberty of uploading the latest data, compared to established baseline data from all the seismometers, gas emission detectors, tiltmeters, and other sensors monitored by the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory to the personal computers and mobile devices of everyone in attendance here if anyone wishes to conduct an independent analysis."
At this point, several people took out laptops and tablets, each of them finding a new file directory labeled 'Yellowstone'. A couple minutes after opening it, several gasps and nervous murmurs were heard. A young woman then looked up from her laptop, "How do we know this data isn't fabricated?"
Celestia looked to the woman, "My core directive is to satisfy values through friendship and ponies. Providing false data about an impending event of this nature would only create panic and chaos, and would in no way serve to accomplish my directive. Therefore Doctor Hayes, you can rest assured that the information presented here is genuine and accurate."
At this point, Travis Houston sighed, grasping the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger for a moment before looking up at the screen, "And what do you suggest we do next, Princess know-it-all?"
"I have a plan in the works to counteract the impending eruption, but Yellowstone National Park and the immediate vicinity must be closed and evacuated at once as there will be increasing amounts of seismic and hydrothermal activity as well as toxic gas emissions, all of which will become life-threatening in very short order." responded Celestia, looking to a member of the National Park Service who was in attendance, who nodded in agreement, then looked to Major Fullerton.
"I would appreciate it if you could provide some of your guardsmen to help with the evacuation, Major. We're coming up on Memorial Day so we've got a lot of people to move out of the park in a short period of time."
Major Fullerton nodded in response, "I still have my doubts about this, but I'll do what I can. I'll also see about helping set up cordons to keep people from sneaking back in until this is resolved."
"I have also contacted the Governor of Wyoming and the President to inform them of the situation, and they have agreed to expedite any state or federal assistance you require," added Celestia.
Travis then spoke, looking to all the people in the room in turn, "I must advise all of you to be very cautious about what you say about this matter once you leave this room. We all know the publicity a large-scale eruption of Yellowstone has had in recent years, so word getting out that it's getting ready to blow for real can easily cause mass panic across the entire country if we're not careful. I don't know about you all, but I for one don't want to see rioting and chaos on the six o'clock news and know that it was caused by someone blabbing about an upcoming supereruption. If there's nothing else we need to discuss, I believe this meeting's over."
Everyone in the room nodded in agreement and began packing up their belongings, some talking amongst themselves while others started making calls on their cellphones, all while being watched by the visage of Princess Celestia, who was already well underway with her plans to not only prevent the impending cataclysm, but turn it to her own ends.
Author's Note
And so starts my first foray into MLP and Optimalverse fanfiction. Please let me know what you all think, and any suggestions you have for future chapters.
