Widening the Lenses: Equestria Risingby Treasurehunter20ChaptersChapter 1 Strange ReadingsCh. 2 A Troubling LetterCh. 3 DisasterChapter 1 Strange ReadingsCh 1 Strange Readings Location: in the middle of the North Pacific Date & Time: November 10th, 2016 10:00 pm local time A lonely research vessel sailing on a calm sea under a starlit night. Two men stood on guard on the bridge while most of the crew were asleep in their bunks. One of the men on the bridge is a seasoned sailor for being in the United States navy for years before being honorably discharged years ago. His bearded face showing signs of unease despite the calm night. “there's a storm coming, I can just feel it.” he said in weary voice. “How can you tell? There's nothing on radar.” asked the other man sleeplessly. Both of them have been on duty for hours watching various sensors while the ship continued its course. They were one of seven ships hired to map the ocean floor with so many sensors that they could measure ocean depth, ocean currents size, speed, and direction, marine life, water density, magnetic field fluctuations, radiation, and etc. Anyways all the sensors were reading normal for the area, nothing to indicate a storm is coming. Even the satellite data shows nothing in the lines of a storm for the area. “Something just doesn’t feel right here.” Said the experienced captain. “Well I'll check all the other sensors then.” Said the deck hand as he went over to the sensor control station. “Hmm, strange. Hey captain, what do you make of this?” he asked while pointing to the screen. Walking over to see what his first mate was talking about, the captain said “it's probably just sea life. Nothing to worry about.” looking over the first mate’s shoulder, he saw something peculiar. “That’s not sea life sir.” Indeed it wasn't sea life for they were getting a message saying several unknown particles detected and overall energy levels rising. “could this be a glitch sir?” “With how new those sensors are, it could be a glitch. But let's get the scientist up here to check it out anyways.” The captain replied as he walked over to the phone. After picking up the phone and pressing the intercom button, the captain said “May Dr. Johnson and all bridge personnel come to the bridge please.” That little message was enough to break the quiet ship from its slumber as crew members rushed out of bed to their various stations. The crew knew that when the captain calls for bridge personnel to be on the bridge, trouble was on its way. Just a few minutes later, a weary young lady dressed in a two pajamas set with a lab coat on top and a pair of slippers on her feet walked into the bridge from a side hatch. She was followed by three more crew members, all of whom were in various stages of getting dress but thankfully had shirts and pants on. “This better be good for I was in the middle of a good dream or I'm throwing you overboard captain.” Said Dr. Johnson with venom in her voice. “Calm down Doctor. I just want you to make sure our sensors are working.” replied Captain Morgan. “As for the rest of you, please get to your stations.” “Of course the sensors are working. Why wouldn’t they be working?” asked Dr. Johnson as she walked over to the console. “I help design them.” “Well, it's better that you see for yourself.” Morgan said as he walked up behind her. Dr. Johnson looked at the screen with a smirk on her face, which soon became a look of disbelief. On screen was the same message of “Unknown Particles Detected” followed by the stats of the rising ambient energy levels. “Is this a joke? Because if it is, it’s not funny” said Johnson as she sat down in a chair and brought up the diagnostic system. She was sure that it was a joke since she design the system to take nothing less than a well placed explosion to damage it. “It’s no joke if Captain Morgan called us to stations.” said helmsman Jordan, who served under Captain Morgan back in the navy before being discharge like his captain. “Thanks Jordan.”the captain said. The diagnostic system came back negative for any damage or tampering of the system just then, proof that what they were seeing was real. “captain, could you contact our sister ship for conformation with these readings? I believe they're about 50 kilometers away.” “What are we looking at here, Doctor?” asked the captain. “I’m not sure.” “Well OK then.” Said Morgan, turning to his communication officer. “Nick, you heard her. Call the Discovery, see what’s their input.” “Right away sir.” nick said as he punched in the codes to the Discovery Com system. “Discovery. Come in Discovery.” he paused. “Discovery. Come in Discovery.” “This is the Discovery. Who is this and state your business?” came from the radio. “This the Challenger, we need you to confirm something for us.” “Ok, let’s see what we got here… what's going on here!?!” “Talk to us, what are your sensors telling you?” “Are you getting a ‘Unknown Particles Detected’ message too.” “Yes.” “Well we're going to stand by for further instructions, over.” “Copy that,” Said Nick. “Well you heard them Captain. What are your orders?” Holding a finger up in a gesture saying one moment, Captain Morgan began to paced around the room while muttering to himself a few things. “This is not something in my training but the particle could be a couple of possibilities here. The first possible answer would be that this is nothing but background radiation for the area, but that doesn't explain the exponentially rising numbers here. It could also be leftover radiation from Fukushima from a few years ago, but again that doesn't explain the readings.” Morgan said as he check the data again. “Doctor, could you tell me if these particles are harmful to life?” “No, I can't at this time. I would need to contact some of my colleagues to know for sure. For now I recommend that we turn around to find the edge of the radiation field to start an assessment of a potential danger zone.” Captain Morgan thought it over for about a minute before saying, “that sounds like an excellent starting point but I recommend that we head for port first to some more supplies and personnel before starting an extensive study at sea. Besides I want an extensive medical examination done on everybody to make sure that we aren't exposed to anything first.” The ship currently had twenty sailors and one scientist on board with enough supplies for another two weeks at sea. It’ll take five days to reach port from their current location. To truly study and survey the area it’ll be a massive under taking that will require a large fleet of ships and a small nation of people, and currently there are just two ships on a poorly funded survey of the Pacific Ocean. “Nick, tell Discovery we’re heading back to port and I suggest that they do the same for potential medical reasons. Also allow Dr. Johnson to contact anyone she wants on the subject matter.” said Captain Morgan. “On it captain.” came a reply as Nick went to work. “Helmsman Jordan, set a heading for home.” “Will do.” “Dr. Johnson, while I do enjoy your time here on the bridge, please return to your work space. Before you complain you will get access to coms, sensor and navigational data there.” “Captain! Our GPS and navigation computer just went down.” called the helmsman as Dr. Johnson left the bridge. “For some reason I knew this would happen sooner or later. Thank God that we have those old navigational tools here.” Said Captain Morgan, taking out a sexton, a compass, and a map of the Pacific Ocean and marking down current location. “Make sure the good doctor gets the navigational info every twenty to thirty minutes until the nav computer comes back online.” he ordered. “Captain, the Discovery has lost their navigational computer as well and are asking for assistance. Apparently none of them know how navigate without help from a computer. What should I tell them?” asked Nick. “Tell them to stay put and wait for the Coast Guard or the military to come get them. And call the Coast Guard and let them know the situation. Do it quick because I have a feeling we'll lose more systems before we're home.” “Right away sir.” … Location: Seattle Coast Guard station Date and time: November 11th, 2016 12:00 am Western time A board officer sat at a desk quietly reading a National Geographic issue waiting for a call or her shift to end whichever came first. Just as she was turning the page the phone rang. “Hello, Coast Guard Seattle Station, how may I help you?” she asked. “Hello, this is Nick. I'm the Com officer on the survey ship the Challenger.” came a slightly panicking voice through some static on the line. “Our sister ship the Discovery and us have discovered some potentially dangerous radiation just before our systems started shutting down. We need help.” the static was getting worse as time went on. “What is your locations?” asked the Guard officer. The voice on the line just managed to say location, speed, and direction of travel before the line cut out completely. Deciding time was the essence, she raised the alert status and began relaying information to both Coast Guard and military forces near the last known locations of the two ships. … Date & Time: November 11th, 2016 6:00 pm News “Good evening America, this is Kelly on CNN.” said the anchor woman on TV. “On tonight's agenda We’ll be covering an interesting search and rescue operation that has both the Coast Guard and the Navy baffled as reports of navigational and communication equipment failure have been coming in across the Pacific Ocean that started late last night. What strange is that the first report of equipment failure came from two highly advance research ships whose equipment should have been protected from such failure which the most puzzling and probably the most troubling. In this first report the crew of the Challenger had made an unusual discovery which was then confirm by the crew of its sister ship the Discovery shortly before their equipment began failing.” “Joining me tonight is Dr. James Brown, a colleague and close friend of Dr. Megan Johnson who is currently on the Challenger at sea.” said Kelly, turning to a man sitting next to her while wearing a lab coat. “Thanks for joining us Dr. Brown and sorry about your friend.” “Oh it's nothing to worry about. I'm sure that she's fine, besides there is nothing I can do about it. What I'm more worried about is the nature of her discovery.” said Dr. Brown. “Would you please share some light on this discovery?” asked Kelly. “Oh sure, but to do that I first have to share some background information on their mission. Currently we know more about space than we do about our oceans. Both the Challenger and the Discovery are survey ships that are on a month long mission to map a small section of the Pacific Ocean as part of a contract with multiple organizations to field test prototype equipment.” “What is the nature of these prototypes Dr. Brown?” “The prototype is a new sensor module that is designed to measure and detect almost anything. This module then connects to two separate computers on board the ship or vehicle making a nearly complete map of its surroundings that is saved on a 500 terabyte hard drive.” “How accurate is this module?” “Initially we were expecting an accuracy of 20 feet but we ended up with something that’s a lot more accurate than expected. Somehow we ended up with something that could measure within the thickness of a human hair, that's a huge difference we’re talking about here.” “Now that's accurate, but we're getting a little sidetrack here. What is the discovery that has you worry?” “What's got me worried is that this module has detected something that is normally detected by very large particle accelerators. An unknown particle was detected that has many strange properties that doesn't fit into the standard model many scientists follow.” “Are these particles what's causing the equipment failure that so many ships and aircraft are experiencing?” “Yes, but it's not as straightforward as that. When we first calculated its properties from the data we received from the Challenger, these particles should not be the source of interference that we're getting here.” “Thanks, but I have last question for you. Is these particles or this radiation dangerous to human life?” “The answer to that question is simply that we don't know. We got to assume that it is dangerous until we proved otherwise, but we just don't have enough data right now.” “Thank you for taking the time to join us tonight Dr. Brown. Our associated is at the Pentagon waiting for news as to what is going in the North Pacific Ocean. We are over to you Nelson.” “Thanks Kelly and the Pentagon is in chaos as the Navy has lost contact with several of its ships including an entire carrier group. Currently the Pentagon has no idea what is going on in the Pacific but there are some rumors of possibly some sort of armed conflict there as many nations have claim to have ships or aircraft in the area. Oh this just in that the Pentagon are now in agreement with many of our allies to block off a large portion of the Pacific something that has never been done before.” “How large of a portion are we talking about here?” “The total area that will be blocked off is about the size of Australia and New Zealand combine which is where most if not all the Ships and aircraft were experiencing equipment failure.” “And has this equipment failure cost any lives to justify such a response from the military?” “The answer is currently unknown according to military officials. But never before has such an area has provided such consistent equipment failure and the military doesn't want to risk it.” “Thanks Nelson, keep us informed. Up next another of our associates Pete Martin is at LA International airport where some planes had just touch down after flying through what is now being called the Great Pacific Anomaly. Over to you Pete.” “Thanks Kelly, I'm here at the scene of what seems to be a massive project as you can see behind me. The passenger and crew of these flights are being completely examined by medical personnel who somehow gotten a hold of one of those prototype sensors you were speaking of earlier while technicians go through the planes to see just went wrong with the on board computers. Both the craft and whoever was on board have trace amounts of this radiation detected on them but so far there are no lasting health concerns to those involved. Some individuals seem to have higher levels than others but we're not sure what this could mean.” Ch. 2 A Troubling LetterCh. 2 A Troubling Letter Location: Canterlot Castle, Equestria Date and time: December 9, 2016 10:00 pm On a balcony of a tall tower overlooking the city of Canterlot sat a dark blue color pony that has a flowing mane and tail that looks like the night sky she sat under. Her long horn glowing in an indigo aura, her eyes closed in meditation, and her wings occasionally shifting in frustration. There's been a problem developing for the past few weeks that has her and her sister stump because of something they could do easily for many years is now getting increasingly more difficult as time moves on. The mare’s ears twitch as the sound of hoofsteps reached out to her from behind. “Up here again sister?” called out a voice to her as her older sister sat down next to her. Sighing, the blue alicorn turn to her sister. “Yes Tia but it's not like you aren't concern as well.” she said while referring to the problem in question. “it just doesn't make sense.” “What doesn't make sense Luna?” asked Celestia, a little confused on what her younger sister is saying. “The last time we had trouble with the sun and moon was because of Discord decided to play with the world like a bunch of toys. And now he claims that he’s not to blame for our troubles.” “I know, and so far nopony that we asked to look into this has any clue as to what is going on or that there is a problem at all.” said Celestia. Just then a wisp of smoke floated towards the pair before solidifying into a rolled up scroll address to Princess Celestia. Celestia quickly grabbed the scroll in a golden aura of magic and unrolled it to read aloud. ‘Dear Princess Celestia, I'm writing to tell you about some recent findings I’ve made since you asked me to see why the sun and moon were getting so hard to control. To thought that such a thing could happen was inconceivable that I thought you were pulling a prank on me if it weren't for the fact that I know you wouldn't joke about something of this importance. I’ve then went through the calculations to the point that nopony should be able to the control of celestial bodies away from you unless it was Discord. When I asked Discord if he did something to cause your troubles but all he said and I quote “It’s not something I did recently.” That got me thinking that Discord did something in the past before he was encased in stone. It took two weeks to research everything he did in the past and I still don't think that's everything because of how poor record keeping was at the time but in the end I decided hook up a Magic Sensor Array to the Royal Astronomers Society Canterlot Observatory telescope and observe the sky for a week. What I discovered is that both the sun and moon are magically artificial constructs that has chaos magic mixed with your own magic. Now this was very troubling to say the least, but that is not even the half of it as I found a few more things.’ “What!?!” exclaimed Luna in shock. “there's more sister.” ‘Everywhere I looked I was seeing what looks like chaos magic throughout the whole sky, but it is greatly weakened and is likely to fail or collapse soon. I also saw what I theorized to be wild nature magic and harmony magic working against the chaos magic. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but one thing is for sure is that the world will forever change. Sincerely your fateful student and fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle’ “Well this is troubling news sister.” Said Luna. “I agree, but we can't let the population know or they’ll panic. For now we’ll just alert the guard to be ready at moment's notice.” Celestia said as she turned to leave. … In the barracks of the guard of Canterlot Castle where much of the higher ranking officers had their offices a few officers were catching up on some much needed paperwork on equipment maintenance and acquisitions and a few incident reports. Really the guard hardly ever sees action anymore and are only a police force to keep the peace. Some of the officers wish for a little more action to break the daily routine. Little did they know that they just might get their wish in the most unexpected manner. Princess Celestia walked in with a troubled expression on her face, this woke up the few ponies who were falling asleep on top of stacks of paperwork. “Princess Celestia, what are you doing here tonight?” asked a Sergeant. “I got some troubling news from Twilight Sparkle.” “Is Princess Twilight in trouble? Does she need help?” asked the captain of the Night Guard. “No, she's not in trouble. I just received word that a great change is coming but I don't know if it is good or bad. All that I know is that there’ll be an upheaval. I want the guard ready to mobilize for anything at a moment's notice.” Said Princess Celestia. “that’ll take time as most of our resources have been put into storage or are in disrepair from lack of use and the men have been given time off for the holidays. Give us 3 to 5 days to be fully equipped and ready to go. If you you need us before then we'll send groups out with light gear for emergencies.” “that is all that I’m asking of you. Good night Captain.” Princess Celestia said as she turned to leave. “Captain Night Watch, do you know what the Princess is talking about?” asked the sergeant. Captain Night turned to his sergeant and said, “Don’t let the public know but last week both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna called for all the military heads, myself included, to a meeting. In that meeting the Princesses let us know that they were having trouble controlling the sun and moon. Back then they didn't think much of it or at least that's my impression on the matter, but now I'm not so sure.” “Thanks for sharing captain. Anyways I'll oversee the equipment prep work.” the sergeant said as he headed for the Quartermaster’s office. “It’s gonna be a long night.” Captain Night Watch said to himself. … Location: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Date & Time: December 9, 2016 11:30 pm “Hmm, interesting.” said a man as he looked at a computer screen. He is part of a team that is studying the Great Pacific Anomaly (GPA) as it become to be known as, along with the weird radiation that it seems to giving off. “What’s interesting?” asked a technician, who goes by the name Douglas, just three screens over looking at a satellite image of the Anomaly. “This,” Said Dr. Go as he pointed at something on the screen. Douglas walked over to see what is on the screen. On screen was an email along with some satellite images and a report. The email read: Dear Doctor Go, After an extensive study on this radiation and possible health effects on those who were exposed to it, my group has come to the initial conclusion that the radiation is harmless as no one who has been exposed to it has experienced any health problems related to radiation poisoning. Anyways my team will continue to study this radiation for any health effects for the foreseeable future as we're seeing some interesting effects in some experiments, but I’ve included my initial report in this email for review. Sincerely, Doctor Johnson “That is interesting.” Douglas said in surprise. “do you mind if I ask for a copy of their report Dr. Go?” “Not at all but wait until I finish reading it first.” replied Dr. Go. The idea of a type of radiation that has no adverse health effects is indeed intriguing but it defies the current Physics model. This is what the technician thought as he went back to his computer and started typing. Accidentally pressing a wrong button, he brought up a satellite map of the world with a new overlay on it. Just as he was about to close the window he noticed that he brought up a radiation contamination map but it has some key differences. The first main difference is that the map doesn't focus on the GPA area but instead on the whole world. Second the radiation has spread out from the initial zone along lines that seems to crisscross the globe. Some of these lines are short and thick while other lines are long and thin. But all of the lines had one thing in common, they all seem to have higher levels of radiation than the surrounding areas with the highest levels in the pattern being closest to the Anomaly. “Uh, Doctor Go, would you take a look at this now please.” “Something the matter?” “First off, do we have a satellite in orbit that has the capabilities of that sensor module?” Douglas asked. “Yes, we swapped out the sensors on the last satellite before launch last week.” “then you should see this.” the technician said while pointing to the screen of his computer. Dr. Go walked over to see what the technician was saying. Once he saw the screen concern appeared on his face. “Odd, it kinda looks like a network of roads, or something like that. If anything I'm going to hazard a guess that these are Ley Lines and I’ll ask a friend for confirmation. Honestly I don't like where this is going.” he said. Dr. Go went back to his computer and brought up the image that Douglas showed him then brought up another window and started typing an email/report to a friend who believes in the supernatural that so far defies scientific explanation. Dear Sarah, I writing about a particular discovery and I hate to admit it but I would like your opinion on it. I'll send you the relevant information and reports even though it is a major breach of protocol given that this is related to the Great Pacific Anomaly (GPA). If my suspicions are correct, we are going to need your expertise real soon here. I’ve included a Nondisclosure agreement that you need to sign before you are authorized to see the information contained within the attached files. Your Friend, Frank Go After the email was finished with the attached files and sent on its way, Doctor Go looked at time that read December 10th, 2016 12:30 am. “I’m going to call it a night. G’night Doug.” … Location: Portland, Oregon Date & Time: December 10th, 2016 6:30 am In decent size house in a quiet neighborhood of Portland Oregon a family was just getting up to start the day. Sarah Vahlen is a proud mother of four children and a loving wife to one ambitious engineer of a husband. Waking up to the buzzing of an alarm clock which was unusual for a Saturday but Fred Vahlen must’ve forgotten to shut it off for the weekend. Groaning she said, “honey you forgot the alarm.” as she reached out shut the damned thing off and missing several times until she succeeded. Fred just got up stating that had to head into work today anyways because they're late on a project at work. Well, she thought bleary, might as well just get up and start the day anyway. Sarah quickly grabbed her bathrobe and headed for stairs as she heard Fred start the shower in the master bath. In the kitchen Sarah pulled out some ingredients and dishes and started making a large pancake breakfast for her family as they slowly made their way to the kitchen. The first to sit down at the table was her eldest daughter Emily who was unusually wide awake for a 14 year old on a Saturday morning. Emily was followed by her younger sister Katie, age 9, who was dressed in a My Little Pony pajamas and carrying a Twilight Sparkle stuffed animal. Sarah’s husband, Fred, was next at the table in a freshly pressed button up shirt and slacks just as the pancakes were set on the table. “You’re awake early Emily.” Sarah said, sitting down next to Fred. “couldn’t sleep, had an idea for a story that I had to write about.” Emily said in a cheery voice. “awe, I know how you are with those stories.” Said her mother. Sarah’s son Robbie, age 12, soon join them at the table already nose deep in a book about biology. The boy has an unusual curiosity for all things related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and has an I.Q. of 240, or at least according to the psychologist who tested him due to the fact that the tests didn't have a higher score. Robbie still had to go to school with kids his age for the arts, history and social interaction but otherwise left to his own devices for all other subjects. “nice to see you join us, Robbie.” said Kate sarcastically. “Good morning,” was all he said as he started eating, nose still deep in his book. The last member of the family walked in still drowsy with sleep was Anna, age 7, also wearing My Little Pony pajamas. “Wow, didn't think everyone would be up this early.” Said Sarah, nearly done with her breakfast. “I gotta get goin' honey, bye.” Fred said as he got up, collected his things and headed out the door. “See you this afternoon.” he called over his shoulder. “So kids, any plans for today?” Sarah asked. “I'll be writing for most of the day and going over to my friends house at three.” replied Emily. “I'll be collecting and studying plant samples from the nearby forest.” came from Robbie who still has his nose deep in his book. “Okay just be back by 5:00 pm for dinner. And Robbie, please make sure you have a handheld radio with you.” Said Sarah. “Yes mom.” The two youngest girls said they were going to watch TV and play games in the house today so Sarah wasn't overly concerned about their well being. Once everyone had their fill and their dishes were in the sink, Sarah went to her home office which was filled with stacks of books and papers about archaeological digs and ancient cultures. Sarah is an archaeologist with three doctorate degrees and specializes in Legends and Mythology. Sitting down at her computer, she noticed a email arrive during the night and the subject line says ‘important please respond ASAP’. Tightening her bathrobe around her like it would protect her from trouble, Sarah clicked on the email. In a new window the email read: Dear Sarah, I writing about a particular discovery and I hate to admit it but I would like your opinion on it. I'll send you the relevant information and reports even though it is a major breach of protocol given that this is related to the Great Pacific Anomaly (GPA). If my suspicions are correct, we are going to need your expertise real soon here. I’ve included a Nondisclosure agreement that you need to sign before you are authorized to see the information contained within the attached files. Your Friend, Frank Go Frank was an old college friend that Sarah kept in touch with from time to time, but the last time they talked was well over a year ago and she didn't know what he's doing now. Well the email answered that question. After reading through the NDA and signing it the next file was a report on the radiation field of GPA and possible health effects associated with it. It read: Project Divine Shield After confirmation that the radiation detected on board the Discovery and the Challenger was not due to equipment failure and was indeed a new type of radiation, I became quite concerned about possible health hazards since I and at least a few thousand people have been exposed to deadly levels of radiation if it were the kind that is given off from radioactive elements often found in nuclear reactor. So far I'm glad to say that no ill health effects have been reported, but we'll continue to monitor those who were exposed for any problems. Anyways to discover what effects this radiation has on the environment and what could possibly be used as shielding in case it is necessary to move the population to secure bunkers, we devised a series of tests where we exposed sample boxes made of the material in question to the radiation field for one hour at a time with a sensor and data set both inside and outside of the box. We were surprised to find out that crystals and gemstones seem to draw in the radiation until they reached a certain level and emitted some of the radiation back, this resulted in taking the experiments back to a more control environment found in a permanent lab. From there we used the irradiated crystals to test the materials again as well as exposed animal, plant, and even bacteria life to the radiation. Amazingly the animals and plants were unaffected and in some cases were even healthier than before exposure while the bacterial colony results are unknown while typing this report. My initial thoughts are while interesting, this radiation has too many unknowns to say if it is safe or not. Given that the radiation has inconsistent properties, only time will tell if this is a problem at all. Doctor Megan Johnson. Surprised by the name on the report, Sarah clicked on the following pages knowing that Megan was tended to be very precise with her work given that Sarah met Megan at a family reunion a few years ago. They were distant cousins that stayed in contact after the reunion and often involved each other with their separate projects when stumped. So it came as no surprise that the following pages were details on experiments along with detail medical reports that were surprisingly easy to read. And the more that Sarah read of the report, the more convinced she was reading about the scientific confirmation of magic or at least that's what she thought after looking her vast library of books on the Arcane Arts written by people who she thought were either crazy or were on to something. She got those books during a period when she magic was real during her college years. The next file was Frank’s work and the first thing that Sarah saw was a map of Earth and a map of the Pacific Ocean, both with an overlay that shows the radiation field of contamination of the Great Pacific Anomaly. Jaw dropping Sarah just stared at her computer screen. Now she knew what Frank meant by her expertise in his message. Sarah may have been a well known archaeologist, but only Frank knew that she is an expert magic or as close to one as you can get since magic wasn't proven to exist before now. Sarah quickly typed out a response stating that all the information and results were consistent with what she knew about magic. Just before she hit the send button the CB radio on the desk gave a burst of static before a voice became somewhat clear. “Mom, you there?” asked Robbie’s slightly panicking voice over the radio. “Mom, something weird is happening out here. Please help!” the radio went dead. Ch. 3 DisasterCh. 3 Disaster Location: Portland, Oregon Date & Time: December 10th, 2016 10:30 am Sarah was panicking about her son Robbie who sent a distress call 15 minutes ago just before his radio cut out. She managed to get a hold of her husband, telling him that Robbie is in trouble. Now she was pacing back and forth in her office with panic as she waits for help to arrive. It wasn’t long until a police officer rang the doorbell, the sound of the bell bringing Sarah back to her senses for a moment. At the door the officer and his partner stood in Portland police uniforms with somewhat tired look on their faces. “Morning ma’am, we received a call about a missing child case. Were you the one who called us?” asked the first officer. “Yes, come in please.” Sarah said, standing aside and directing officers to the family room. “Would you like something to drink?” “Thanks but no, we're on a tight schedule since we're a little under staffed right now. Could you tell us what happened to your son?” the second officer asked, sitting down on the couch. “Robbie, well I was in my home office reading some files a colleague sent me when I received a call over the CB radio from my son. He said something weird was happening then said help before the radio cut out.” Sarah answered, sitting in a chair next to the couch. “Okay, do you know where your son was at the time?” “Yes, he was in the nearby forest collecting plant samples and such for his lab.” “His lab?” “Yes lab, he has a small lab/workshop in the garage.” “And how old is your son now?” “he’s 12 years old.” “twelve!?! Why would you let a 12 year old run around a forest unsupervised let alone have a lab?!” “You do know that you're talking about my son here. And besides he's a genius that they can't measure the I.Q. of despite the efforts of psychologists.” “Oh, I think I heard about that in the news a few years ago. I shouldn’t judge your parenting methods but I can't understand why you let him go alone. Anyways do you have a picture of him to help the search.” “Yes, just a minute,” Sarah said as she went to dig out an old photo album. She came back quickly with Robbie’s most recent school picture. “Here you go. This was taken just a few months ago.” “Thanks, we'll go gather a search party and be back shortly.” … Meanwhile about thirty minutes or so ago in the nearby forest. Robbie Vahlen was walking down a small trail that is mostly used by animals. It was cold and wet out thanks to it being winter but the area doesn’t experience snow because of the ocean about 50 miles away bringing somewhat warm air to the area. Looking towards the ground Robbie noticed a set of animal tracks that looked a little off but thought nothing about it as he continued on deeper into the forest. He already collected many samples of plants, a few rock and soil samples, and a few pictures of animals and was thinking about going home but he wanted to just go a little further in than he done in the past. Walking around the bend of the trail, Robbie saw a couple of weird plants and crystals mixed among them. The plants had a dark blue stem with blue leaves and a light blue flower on top. Knowing that the plants could be toxic but still wanting a sample anyways, he took a sample bag and carefully put an entire plant in it while making sure not to touch the plant. With the plant safely stowed, Robbie also reached for a crystal as well but just as he grabbed the crystal, a spark jumped the gap and raced up his arm shocking him. He jumped back holding his hand in pain while inspecting his fingers for damage. Once satisfied that there's no damage he grabbed the crystal again a little more cautiously this time. When the crystal did not shock him this time, Robbie thought it was weird as he also stowed the crystal in his bag. Soon he continued on his way until he came to a strange clearing, where at the center of the clearing stood a crystal that is as large as a man with many smaller crystals of different sizes around it. Okay time to call mom, thought Robbie as he pull out his out his radio. Turning on the radio Robbie spoke into the microphone, “Mom, you there?” his voice had edge of panic to it. “Mom, something weird is happening out here.” A growl sounded behind him. “Please help.” and with that said he dropped the radio on to the ground. Turning very slowly around, he came face to face with a humongous wolf. But this wolf was strange, first off it was closer in size to a grizzly bear. Second this wolf was not made of flesh and blood, but rather dead wood and moss which made perfect camouflage in the forest if it weren't for the eyes that glowed a bright green light. And thirdly, the way this wolf moved makes you think nothing but the wind is blowing through the trees until it growls or howls nearby. The timber wolf stalk ever closer from the edge of the clearing as Robbie slowly step away from it. The fear was evident on his face as the wolf continued to growl at him showing off splinter like teeth. His foot hit and trip over his fallen radio giving the wolf the chance to pounce on it's prey, the wolf leapt at him going for his face and throat. He only had enough time to bring his arm up to protect his face before the beast hit him, knocking Robbie off his feet onto his back. It was a painful landing as Robbie’s bag dug into his back and as the wolf chomped down on his left arm. While the wolf was tearing up his arm, Robbie frantically reached out for something with his right hand, anything that he could use as a weapon to dislodge the wolf from his arm. Finally, his fingers wrapped around a decent size rock that he then brought up and whacked the wolf's head several times with all the force he could muster. It was enough to cause the wolf to let go, a little dazed from attack which was then followed up by an awkward punch to the snout from Robbie’s bleeding left arm. This caused the wolf to back up a step shaking it's head in surprise. Robbie tried to roll onto his belly so his backpack could provide some protection, but with the wolf still on top of him regaining it's wits he had to find a different strategy quick. He still has the stone in his hand and his knees is almost directly right beneath the wolf's jaw. The wolf had recovered by this point and was about to lunge forward jaw open to try to rip out Robbie’s throat. Robbie brought up his legs and knee the jaw shut before he threw the stone at beast’s head which was a hit followed by a double kick that just managed to get the wolf off of him. The wolf decided to circle around the boy as he rolled over onto his belly, exhaustion on Robbie’s face clear for the world to see. He has to end this soon or he’ll die a gruesome death, well he might still die even if he survives the fight. Robbie grabbed a long broken crystal near his right hand and turned at the last moment when the wolf leapt at him again, ignoring the major shock through his body while doing so. The crystal went through it's wooden head like a knife through butter killing the beast. Robbie backed up pulling his arm out of the thing’s mouth not fully comprehending what he had done and unaware of all the injuries he sustained from the fight. Now that he no longer needs to fight for his life, he passes out from exhaustion. … Some hours later. Sarah cautiously walked along a forest trail calling out Robbie’s name every so often while her group kept an eye open for the young boy. Her group consisted of four others that volunteer for the search party, each were worried for the boy’s well being. Since the police didn't have the manpower to do a search of the forest, many people volunteer to help despite the cold wet weather. The volunteers work out a system where teams of five will follow each of the four trails that ran through this forest calling out Robbie’s name. Each team had a designated person that had a two-way radio, another for the survival pack that all groups were required to carry, and three volunteers who carried anything else deemed necessary which so happen to be a thermal imaging camera and one of the modified Geiger counter that can detect the strange radiation. The trail was rough but bearable for Sarah since she often had to hike to dig sites during her career. This trail needed some maintenance as there was some fallen trees blocking the path as well as some plants growing in the middle of it too. At one point they came to a fork in the trail, one path was clear and obviously part of the parks system but the other path was little more than a game trail. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even on the map. “I feel like we should go this way.” Sarah said pointing at the unmarked path. “It’s possible that Robbie went down that path but what makes you feel like it's the right one?” the park ranger asked. “First off, I know what my son was doing when he called for help. And second, I see footprints in the mud leading that way that looks like my son's.” Sarah said in a hostile way. There was a look of disbelief on everyone's faces as those words sunk in. The park ranger decided to take a closer look at the alternative path. “Alright, so far your theory holds merit. But we'll need to hurry because look over at this.” he said pointing out a new track that looks like a wolf's but is as big as a grizzly bear paw. “Let me call in our plan and location, then we'll go.” he said going off to side to do just that. Everyone was uneasy about what they might find at the end but nobody wanted to turn back as they cautiously follow the trail of prints deeper into the forest. After about forty minutes, the group came across evidence of Robbie stopping to take samples of a strange blue plant that they never seen before. “awe, pretty.” one of the group said as she approach the flower to pick it. “don't touch that flower!” exclaimed the ranger. “We don't know if it's harmful or not. I've never seen it before in my 20 years of being a Park Ranger.” “Oh, okay.” The group continued on keeping an eye on the ground for anymore of the flowers. They came around a bend in the path and stop right in their tracks as they couldn't understand what they were seeing. Before them was a clearing filled with many multicolored crystals that seem to glow. But that wasn’t what got their attention, what got their attention was the grizzly size wolf that was made of wood and moss and had a long crystal sticking through it's head. Sarah was the first to break out of stupor when she noticed Robbie laying limp on the ground near the beast’s head in a slowly growing puddle of blood. “Oh my god.” she gasped as she rushed to Robbie’s side. “Please be alive, please be alright.” she begged trying feel for a pulse. Feeling a weak pulse she sigh, “He’s alive. He is alive, but just barely.” in relief. That was all the group needed to break into action. The ranger called over the radio saying that the boy was found and needed immediate medical attention. The three others surrounded the injured boy to assess the extent of the injuries and to stop the bleeding. Sarah became so emotional that the ranger had to drag her away from the boy as they waited for help. Fifteen minutes later they all heard the telltale sounds of a helicopter approaching. The radio flared to life, “team B, we need you to send up a flare. Over” “Copy that,” the ranger said into the radio before popping a flare up. The helicopter quickly zeroed in on their location after that. “the trees are too close so we can't land, we're going to lower the basket.” Sarah grabbed the radio from the ranger and said, “let me join you up there.” “No can do. We only got room for one maybe two people.” “please this is my son here, please let me come.” she pleaded into the radio. There was a pause, no doubt that the crew were debating the request. Finally the answer came, “Alright, we'll let you can come, but you have to listen to us.” By that time the basket has touched the ground and the volunteers were already securing Robbie into it. Robbie was slowly raised to the hovering aircraft and he disappear from view inside. The basket came back down and Sarah hopped in almost as soon as it was low enough to do so. A thought made itself apparent, what were the radiation levels in the clearing? She thought that such a beast like a large wooden wolf could not exist naturally and if her theory is true, that wolf is a magical creature. Once she's in the chopper the winch operator handed her a set of headphones. “Wear this!” he yelled over the noise of the craft, and she followed his instructions. “Good, now we can hear each other. Please sit down in that chair.” he said pointing to a seat. “Sir, is there any way I could contact my cousin? I think she needs to know about this immediately.” “Just a moment, Lt. Harrison what's his stats?” the officer called out, beginning to write down what he heard as Lt. Harrison started calling out numbers. Sarah tried over and over to get their attention but they were professional in their tasks. Finally the officer turn to her after Robbie’s bandages were removed for cleaning the wounds. “My god, what did this?” “That’s what I'm trying to tell you and I don’t think you'll believe me.” “just gonna say he looks like an animal attacked him, except for the wood here.” “Well you are right in that assessment, but not by a normal animal. He was attacked by a large wolf the size of a grizzly bear that’s made of wood.” “You’re right, I don't believe you, but why does this concerns your cousin?” “The area we were in had extremely high radiation levels of the same type of that found in the Great Pacific Anomaly.” “Oh come on! Captain! Change of plans, instead heading for Portland General Hospital, we need to make for the military base. Code Orange.” there was a string of curses that followed that comment from the rest of the crew. They were only a quarter mile from the hospital when they had to change directions. “Anyways who is your cousin?” “Doctor Magen Johnson.” … Location: Portland, Oregon Military base and Naval yard Time: 1:00 pm The crew of the base’s air traffic control tower noticed that one of the air ambulance that was heading towards Portland General Hospital suddenly change directions and was now heading towards the military base. This was very confusing as this kind of thing doesn't happen without good reason. “Flight 2910, please respond. Over.” called an air traffic controller. “This is flight 2910, over.” “we noticed you've changed direction and are heading towards restricted air space. Please confirm if this true.” “You are correct.” “please state your reasons for this change.” “we got a possible code Orange for you.” “Did you say code orange?” his comment got his colleagues attention. “Yes, a code orange, and in need of immediate medical attention.” “Uh copy that. Please continue your current heading and land at helicopter pad 2.” he let go of the Com button and turned to his CO and said, “We got an incoming code orange, alert the boys in R&D that medical attention is needed.” … Dr. Megan Johnson was in her newly constructed office in the underground lab look at the latest test results for shielding from the strange radiation of the Great Pacific Anomaly. So far a particular alloy seems to work well for the task but is not perfect as some of the radiation still leaks through. Just as she was writing so notes down, the phone rings, putting a dampener on her mood as she picked up the phone. “Hello, Project Divine Shield, Doctor Johnson speaking.” “Dr. Johnson, you're about to get company. We got a code orange incoming, medical attention needed.” said the base commander over the phone. The phone went dead. Great, another person exposed again. Hopefully it would be a false alarm like the three times before, but this time it's different. A medical emergency is coupled with it so that could be a problem. Magen got up and headed for the medical area of the underground lab as she heard the alarm start up. She met with the medical staff just as the elevator ding open to reveal four soldiers carrying a stretcher with a 12 year old boy on it. A fifth soldier was carrying a backpack that belongs to the boy. Magen didn't see the boy’s face but all the blood drained from her face when she saw who was following the last soldier. For the last person she wanted to see at that moment just walked in, her cousin Sarah Vahlen. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together that the boy was Robbie Vahlen, Sarah’s son. She met her cousin before Sarah could enter the medical bay. “Sarah, you're the last person I want to see here. What happened?” Megan asked. “Robbie called for help before his radio cut out. When we found him, he was out cold on the ground bleeding from his arms and legs next to dead body of a wolf.” “Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're both here.” “Well where we found him was in a clearing filled with many glowing multicolored crystals and here's the part you won't believe. The wolf was as big as a grizzly and was made of wood and moss.” Sarah pulled out a digital camera and showed Magen the pictures she somehow had taken without anyone noticing. … Location: Canterlot Castle throne room Date and Time: December 10th, 2016 1:30 pm Princess Celestia sat on her throne trying to ignore a growing headache as ponies lined up to petition complaints as many of the ponies were family members of guards that were called back into service from their holiday vacations. Even the nobles were complaining about it since their normal business was interrupted by the steady influx of concern citizens. She was in the middle of alleviating the concern of particularly distress pregnant mare, who was worried her husband had to be called away so close to her due date, when her secretary whispered something into her ear. “Sorry, I have to cut this short miss Honeywell, but something has come up that needs my attention. I'll try to make sure Mr. Honey Shield is there for the birth of your child but I can't make any guarantees on the matter. Farewell my little pony.” Celestia said, dismissing the mare before turning to her secretary. “Mr. Sharp Schedule please let the petitioners know that I'm not taking anymore petitions today unless it's a real emergency situation. Oh, and please let Mr Honey Shield know he is on family leave unless he feels like he is needed at his post.” “Yes Princess, right away and would you like me to send in the messengers?” asked Sharp Schedule. “Yes please.” A moment later the doors opened to a slightly out of breath pegasus in a weather service vest. He looked to have gone through a major storm to get to the palace for he was dripping wet and slightly singe. Yet the weather schedule said that it's supposed to be sunny with only a couple of light snow storms across the country today. Something was obviously wrong just by judging the stallion’s odd appearance. “Princess, the weather is completely out of our control right now.” he said in panic, not even bothering with formalities. “currently we got a major storm blowing in from the north dumping enough snow to bury Ponyville.” he paused for a breath. “Is this all that’s wrong?” “No, Manehattan is experiencing a large coastal storm that's flooding many homes and businesses. I’ve got similar reports from up and down the east coast. The Crystal Empire is in such an intense blizzard that the magic dome that protects it has shattered. Seadaddle has ice blocking their harbor, Appleloosa has a dust storm, and Cloudsdale been blown off course and is falling apart. The weather factory there been destroyed. I don't know about the rest of the country country, but Canterlot is the only place where we still have control.” “Wow I never thought it get this bad. Do you know what is causing all this?” “Well not really, but I have a theory. At every location of these weather problems there are cracks in the sky above them. I think that's the source of the problems so far.” “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. For now focus on the safety of the ponies in Cloudsdale and see what you can salvage of the weather factory there.” Celestia said with great concern. The pegasus turned to leave when another pony burst through the door carrying a worn-out and injured griffin who really needed to see the doctor. Unfortunately the griffin insisted on seeing the Princess before the doctor but didn't a reason why. “Princess Celestia, what is going on here!?!.” the griffin exclaim. Before Celestia could speak he cut her off. “I come here seeking aid for my people and on my way here I find that Equestria is in just as much chaos as the griffin empire! If I didn't know better, I say Discord is up to his old tricks again.” “I’m sorry to hear that the griffons are not doing much better than us at the moment and I'm sure that I'll get more reports and request like yours before the day is over. I think this disaster will be over with soon but until then please be patient.” “be patient! Why I never…” the griffin said as he was carried away by a guard towards the infirmary. “ugh… it's going to be a long day,” she said as another messenger arrived. … Location: Ponyville, Equestria All throughout the land disasters popped up as the dimensional barrier finally began to break, but the magic which caused these disasters will not allow the creatures caught in them to be seriously hurt or killed by them. That is the saving grace or at least that's what Twilight Sparkle thought as she and Spike worked at melting the snow that deep enough to buried her tree castle. She woke up to the sight of snow blocking her window this morning, something that doesn't happen when your bedroom window is fifty feet from the ground. “What’s with all this snow?” Twilight asked in frustration when the snow tunnel collapsed again. “I know that we weren't schedule this much snow.” Spike, who was out of breath from breathing fire, took a gasp before saying, “Could this be related to the chaos magic?” Twilight was about say something in reply when a thought occurred to her. “Spike, you're right. Let's go inside, I have some calculations to do. Uh… where's Starlight Glimmer?” “down here.” came a voice from a pile of snow. “Ah we’ll have you out in a moment.” “Thanks.” … The Great Pacific Anomaly was beginning to look very much like a massive dome of light to the naval blockade and the coastal cities within a 1,000 miles from the site. Many earthquake sensors were picking up quakes from the area. If anything, everyone knew something going happen and it’ll happen soon. Almost everyone were watching TVs and many were thinking the end of days has arrived or close to it anyways. Captain Morgan sat on the bridge of the Discovery keeping one eye on his sensors while nervously eyeing the light dome that covered 170° arc in front of him. The Discovery currently sat in the middle of a ring five ships, a cruiser, two destroyers, and two frigates. Their sensors were all linked together so that if something was picked up by one ship, they all would see it. The military commanders had drafted Captain Morgan and the crew of the Discovery as their ship has the most powerful and precise sensors available. The dome suddenly collapse before a multicolored shock wave exploded outwards. Captain Morgan grabbed the intercom microphone saying, “brace for impact.” managing to duck down behind the console seconds impact. All the windows shattered as the wave of rainbow light passed over everything and continued on.* Following the shock wave was a loud roaring sound as a huge wall of water appeared on the horizon. With his helmsman still dazed, Captain Morgan took the helm and steered a course for the wave and gunned the engine. The other ships quickly followed suit as everyone started praying that they’ll survive. First the cruiser’s bow dipped in a little before going nearly straight up as the wave hit. This happened to nearly every ship as they went over the top of it and came back down on the other side. “Damage report.” called out Captain Morgan . “Aside from broken glass and a few minor injuries, surprisingly nothing to report sir.” “Ah Thank God.” Morgan sighed in relief. “Sir, sensors are picking up a massive landmass nearly a hundred miles ahead of us.” “Wait for orders from command.” “Captain, orders from fleet command to investigate the landmass sir.” “Of course, proceed with caution.”
Chapter 1 Strange ReadingsCh 1 Strange Readings Location: in the middle of the North Pacific Date & Time: November 10th, 2016 10:00 pm local time A lonely research vessel sailing on a calm sea under a starlit night. Two men stood on guard on the bridge while most of the crew were asleep in their bunks. One of the men on the bridge is a seasoned sailor for being in the United States navy for years before being honorably discharged years ago. His bearded face showing signs of unease despite the calm night. “there's a storm coming, I can just feel it.” he said in weary voice. “How can you tell? There's nothing on radar.” asked the other man sleeplessly. Both of them have been on duty for hours watching various sensors while the ship continued its course. They were one of seven ships hired to map the ocean floor with so many sensors that they could measure ocean depth, ocean currents size, speed, and direction, marine life, water density, magnetic field fluctuations, radiation, and etc. Anyways all the sensors were reading normal for the area, nothing to indicate a storm is coming. Even the satellite data shows nothing in the lines of a storm for the area. “Something just doesn’t feel right here.” Said the experienced captain. “Well I'll check all the other sensors then.” Said the deck hand as he went over to the sensor control station. “Hmm, strange. Hey captain, what do you make of this?” he asked while pointing to the screen. Walking over to see what his first mate was talking about, the captain said “it's probably just sea life. Nothing to worry about.” looking over the first mate’s shoulder, he saw something peculiar. “That’s not sea life sir.” Indeed it wasn't sea life for they were getting a message saying several unknown particles detected and overall energy levels rising. “could this be a glitch sir?” “With how new those sensors are, it could be a glitch. But let's get the scientist up here to check it out anyways.” The captain replied as he walked over to the phone. After picking up the phone and pressing the intercom button, the captain said “May Dr. Johnson and all bridge personnel come to the bridge please.” That little message was enough to break the quiet ship from its slumber as crew members rushed out of bed to their various stations. The crew knew that when the captain calls for bridge personnel to be on the bridge, trouble was on its way. Just a few minutes later, a weary young lady dressed in a two pajamas set with a lab coat on top and a pair of slippers on her feet walked into the bridge from a side hatch. She was followed by three more crew members, all of whom were in various stages of getting dress but thankfully had shirts and pants on. “This better be good for I was in the middle of a good dream or I'm throwing you overboard captain.” Said Dr. Johnson with venom in her voice. “Calm down Doctor. I just want you to make sure our sensors are working.” replied Captain Morgan. “As for the rest of you, please get to your stations.” “Of course the sensors are working. Why wouldn’t they be working?” asked Dr. Johnson as she walked over to the console. “I help design them.” “Well, it's better that you see for yourself.” Morgan said as he walked up behind her. Dr. Johnson looked at the screen with a smirk on her face, which soon became a look of disbelief. On screen was the same message of “Unknown Particles Detected” followed by the stats of the rising ambient energy levels. “Is this a joke? Because if it is, it’s not funny” said Johnson as she sat down in a chair and brought up the diagnostic system. She was sure that it was a joke since she design the system to take nothing less than a well placed explosion to damage it. “It’s no joke if Captain Morgan called us to stations.” said helmsman Jordan, who served under Captain Morgan back in the navy before being discharge like his captain. “Thanks Jordan.”the captain said. The diagnostic system came back negative for any damage or tampering of the system just then, proof that what they were seeing was real. “captain, could you contact our sister ship for conformation with these readings? I believe they're about 50 kilometers away.” “What are we looking at here, Doctor?” asked the captain. “I’m not sure.” “Well OK then.” Said Morgan, turning to his communication officer. “Nick, you heard her. Call the Discovery, see what’s their input.” “Right away sir.” nick said as he punched in the codes to the Discovery Com system. “Discovery. Come in Discovery.” he paused. “Discovery. Come in Discovery.” “This is the Discovery. Who is this and state your business?” came from the radio. “This the Challenger, we need you to confirm something for us.” “Ok, let’s see what we got here… what's going on here!?!” “Talk to us, what are your sensors telling you?” “Are you getting a ‘Unknown Particles Detected’ message too.” “Yes.” “Well we're going to stand by for further instructions, over.” “Copy that,” Said Nick. “Well you heard them Captain. What are your orders?” Holding a finger up in a gesture saying one moment, Captain Morgan began to paced around the room while muttering to himself a few things. “This is not something in my training but the particle could be a couple of possibilities here. The first possible answer would be that this is nothing but background radiation for the area, but that doesn't explain the exponentially rising numbers here. It could also be leftover radiation from Fukushima from a few years ago, but again that doesn't explain the readings.” Morgan said as he check the data again. “Doctor, could you tell me if these particles are harmful to life?” “No, I can't at this time. I would need to contact some of my colleagues to know for sure. For now I recommend that we turn around to find the edge of the radiation field to start an assessment of a potential danger zone.” Captain Morgan thought it over for about a minute before saying, “that sounds like an excellent starting point but I recommend that we head for port first to some more supplies and personnel before starting an extensive study at sea. Besides I want an extensive medical examination done on everybody to make sure that we aren't exposed to anything first.” The ship currently had twenty sailors and one scientist on board with enough supplies for another two weeks at sea. It’ll take five days to reach port from their current location. To truly study and survey the area it’ll be a massive under taking that will require a large fleet of ships and a small nation of people, and currently there are just two ships on a poorly funded survey of the Pacific Ocean. “Nick, tell Discovery we’re heading back to port and I suggest that they do the same for potential medical reasons. Also allow Dr. Johnson to contact anyone she wants on the subject matter.” said Captain Morgan. “On it captain.” came a reply as Nick went to work. “Helmsman Jordan, set a heading for home.” “Will do.” “Dr. Johnson, while I do enjoy your time here on the bridge, please return to your work space. Before you complain you will get access to coms, sensor and navigational data there.” “Captain! Our GPS and navigation computer just went down.” called the helmsman as Dr. Johnson left the bridge. “For some reason I knew this would happen sooner or later. Thank God that we have those old navigational tools here.” Said Captain Morgan, taking out a sexton, a compass, and a map of the Pacific Ocean and marking down current location. “Make sure the good doctor gets the navigational info every twenty to thirty minutes until the nav computer comes back online.” he ordered. “Captain, the Discovery has lost their navigational computer as well and are asking for assistance. Apparently none of them know how navigate without help from a computer. What should I tell them?” asked Nick. “Tell them to stay put and wait for the Coast Guard or the military to come get them. And call the Coast Guard and let them know the situation. Do it quick because I have a feeling we'll lose more systems before we're home.” “Right away sir.” … Location: Seattle Coast Guard station Date and time: November 11th, 2016 12:00 am Western time A board officer sat at a desk quietly reading a National Geographic issue waiting for a call or her shift to end whichever came first. Just as she was turning the page the phone rang. “Hello, Coast Guard Seattle Station, how may I help you?” she asked. “Hello, this is Nick. I'm the Com officer on the survey ship the Challenger.” came a slightly panicking voice through some static on the line. “Our sister ship the Discovery and us have discovered some potentially dangerous radiation just before our systems started shutting down. We need help.” the static was getting worse as time went on. “What is your locations?” asked the Guard officer. The voice on the line just managed to say location, speed, and direction of travel before the line cut out completely. Deciding time was the essence, she raised the alert status and began relaying information to both Coast Guard and military forces near the last known locations of the two ships. … Date & Time: November 11th, 2016 6:00 pm News “Good evening America, this is Kelly on CNN.” said the anchor woman on TV. “On tonight's agenda We’ll be covering an interesting search and rescue operation that has both the Coast Guard and the Navy baffled as reports of navigational and communication equipment failure have been coming in across the Pacific Ocean that started late last night. What strange is that the first report of equipment failure came from two highly advance research ships whose equipment should have been protected from such failure which the most puzzling and probably the most troubling. In this first report the crew of the Challenger had made an unusual discovery which was then confirm by the crew of its sister ship the Discovery shortly before their equipment began failing.” “Joining me tonight is Dr. James Brown, a colleague and close friend of Dr. Megan Johnson who is currently on the Challenger at sea.” said Kelly, turning to a man sitting next to her while wearing a lab coat. “Thanks for joining us Dr. Brown and sorry about your friend.” “Oh it's nothing to worry about. I'm sure that she's fine, besides there is nothing I can do about it. What I'm more worried about is the nature of her discovery.” said Dr. Brown. “Would you please share some light on this discovery?” asked Kelly. “Oh sure, but to do that I first have to share some background information on their mission. Currently we know more about space than we do about our oceans. Both the Challenger and the Discovery are survey ships that are on a month long mission to map a small section of the Pacific Ocean as part of a contract with multiple organizations to field test prototype equipment.” “What is the nature of these prototypes Dr. Brown?” “The prototype is a new sensor module that is designed to measure and detect almost anything. This module then connects to two separate computers on board the ship or vehicle making a nearly complete map of its surroundings that is saved on a 500 terabyte hard drive.” “How accurate is this module?” “Initially we were expecting an accuracy of 20 feet but we ended up with something that’s a lot more accurate than expected. Somehow we ended up with something that could measure within the thickness of a human hair, that's a huge difference we’re talking about here.” “Now that's accurate, but we're getting a little sidetrack here. What is the discovery that has you worry?” “What's got me worried is that this module has detected something that is normally detected by very large particle accelerators. An unknown particle was detected that has many strange properties that doesn't fit into the standard model many scientists follow.” “Are these particles what's causing the equipment failure that so many ships and aircraft are experiencing?” “Yes, but it's not as straightforward as that. When we first calculated its properties from the data we received from the Challenger, these particles should not be the source of interference that we're getting here.” “Thanks, but I have last question for you. Is these particles or this radiation dangerous to human life?” “The answer to that question is simply that we don't know. We got to assume that it is dangerous until we proved otherwise, but we just don't have enough data right now.” “Thank you for taking the time to join us tonight Dr. Brown. Our associated is at the Pentagon waiting for news as to what is going in the North Pacific Ocean. We are over to you Nelson.” “Thanks Kelly and the Pentagon is in chaos as the Navy has lost contact with several of its ships including an entire carrier group. Currently the Pentagon has no idea what is going on in the Pacific but there are some rumors of possibly some sort of armed conflict there as many nations have claim to have ships or aircraft in the area. Oh this just in that the Pentagon are now in agreement with many of our allies to block off a large portion of the Pacific something that has never been done before.” “How large of a portion are we talking about here?” “The total area that will be blocked off is about the size of Australia and New Zealand combine which is where most if not all the Ships and aircraft were experiencing equipment failure.” “And has this equipment failure cost any lives to justify such a response from the military?” “The answer is currently unknown according to military officials. But never before has such an area has provided such consistent equipment failure and the military doesn't want to risk it.” “Thanks Nelson, keep us informed. Up next another of our associates Pete Martin is at LA International airport where some planes had just touch down after flying through what is now being called the Great Pacific Anomaly. Over to you Pete.” “Thanks Kelly, I'm here at the scene of what seems to be a massive project as you can see behind me. The passenger and crew of these flights are being completely examined by medical personnel who somehow gotten a hold of one of those prototype sensors you were speaking of earlier while technicians go through the planes to see just went wrong with the on board computers. Both the craft and whoever was on board have trace amounts of this radiation detected on them but so far there are no lasting health concerns to those involved. Some individuals seem to have higher levels than others but we're not sure what this could mean.”
Ch. 2 A Troubling LetterCh. 2 A Troubling Letter Location: Canterlot Castle, Equestria Date and time: December 9, 2016 10:00 pm On a balcony of a tall tower overlooking the city of Canterlot sat a dark blue color pony that has a flowing mane and tail that looks like the night sky she sat under. Her long horn glowing in an indigo aura, her eyes closed in meditation, and her wings occasionally shifting in frustration. There's been a problem developing for the past few weeks that has her and her sister stump because of something they could do easily for many years is now getting increasingly more difficult as time moves on. The mare’s ears twitch as the sound of hoofsteps reached out to her from behind. “Up here again sister?” called out a voice to her as her older sister sat down next to her. Sighing, the blue alicorn turn to her sister. “Yes Tia but it's not like you aren't concern as well.” she said while referring to the problem in question. “it just doesn't make sense.” “What doesn't make sense Luna?” asked Celestia, a little confused on what her younger sister is saying. “The last time we had trouble with the sun and moon was because of Discord decided to play with the world like a bunch of toys. And now he claims that he’s not to blame for our troubles.” “I know, and so far nopony that we asked to look into this has any clue as to what is going on or that there is a problem at all.” said Celestia. Just then a wisp of smoke floated towards the pair before solidifying into a rolled up scroll address to Princess Celestia. Celestia quickly grabbed the scroll in a golden aura of magic and unrolled it to read aloud. ‘Dear Princess Celestia, I'm writing to tell you about some recent findings I’ve made since you asked me to see why the sun and moon were getting so hard to control. To thought that such a thing could happen was inconceivable that I thought you were pulling a prank on me if it weren't for the fact that I know you wouldn't joke about something of this importance. I’ve then went through the calculations to the point that nopony should be able to the control of celestial bodies away from you unless it was Discord. When I asked Discord if he did something to cause your troubles but all he said and I quote “It’s not something I did recently.” That got me thinking that Discord did something in the past before he was encased in stone. It took two weeks to research everything he did in the past and I still don't think that's everything because of how poor record keeping was at the time but in the end I decided hook up a Magic Sensor Array to the Royal Astronomers Society Canterlot Observatory telescope and observe the sky for a week. What I discovered is that both the sun and moon are magically artificial constructs that has chaos magic mixed with your own magic. Now this was very troubling to say the least, but that is not even the half of it as I found a few more things.’ “What!?!” exclaimed Luna in shock. “there's more sister.” ‘Everywhere I looked I was seeing what looks like chaos magic throughout the whole sky, but it is greatly weakened and is likely to fail or collapse soon. I also saw what I theorized to be wild nature magic and harmony magic working against the chaos magic. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but one thing is for sure is that the world will forever change. Sincerely your fateful student and fellow princess, Twilight Sparkle’ “Well this is troubling news sister.” Said Luna. “I agree, but we can't let the population know or they’ll panic. For now we’ll just alert the guard to be ready at moment's notice.” Celestia said as she turned to leave. … In the barracks of the guard of Canterlot Castle where much of the higher ranking officers had their offices a few officers were catching up on some much needed paperwork on equipment maintenance and acquisitions and a few incident reports. Really the guard hardly ever sees action anymore and are only a police force to keep the peace. Some of the officers wish for a little more action to break the daily routine. Little did they know that they just might get their wish in the most unexpected manner. Princess Celestia walked in with a troubled expression on her face, this woke up the few ponies who were falling asleep on top of stacks of paperwork. “Princess Celestia, what are you doing here tonight?” asked a Sergeant. “I got some troubling news from Twilight Sparkle.” “Is Princess Twilight in trouble? Does she need help?” asked the captain of the Night Guard. “No, she's not in trouble. I just received word that a great change is coming but I don't know if it is good or bad. All that I know is that there’ll be an upheaval. I want the guard ready to mobilize for anything at a moment's notice.” Said Princess Celestia. “that’ll take time as most of our resources have been put into storage or are in disrepair from lack of use and the men have been given time off for the holidays. Give us 3 to 5 days to be fully equipped and ready to go. If you you need us before then we'll send groups out with light gear for emergencies.” “that is all that I’m asking of you. Good night Captain.” Princess Celestia said as she turned to leave. “Captain Night Watch, do you know what the Princess is talking about?” asked the sergeant. Captain Night turned to his sergeant and said, “Don’t let the public know but last week both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna called for all the military heads, myself included, to a meeting. In that meeting the Princesses let us know that they were having trouble controlling the sun and moon. Back then they didn't think much of it or at least that's my impression on the matter, but now I'm not so sure.” “Thanks for sharing captain. Anyways I'll oversee the equipment prep work.” the sergeant said as he headed for the Quartermaster’s office. “It’s gonna be a long night.” Captain Night Watch said to himself. … Location: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Date & Time: December 9, 2016 11:30 pm “Hmm, interesting.” said a man as he looked at a computer screen. He is part of a team that is studying the Great Pacific Anomaly (GPA) as it become to be known as, along with the weird radiation that it seems to giving off. “What’s interesting?” asked a technician, who goes by the name Douglas, just three screens over looking at a satellite image of the Anomaly. “This,” Said Dr. Go as he pointed at something on the screen. Douglas walked over to see what is on the screen. On screen was an email along with some satellite images and a report. The email read: Dear Doctor Go, After an extensive study on this radiation and possible health effects on those who were exposed to it, my group has come to the initial conclusion that the radiation is harmless as no one who has been exposed to it has experienced any health problems related to radiation poisoning. Anyways my team will continue to study this radiation for any health effects for the foreseeable future as we're seeing some interesting effects in some experiments, but I’ve included my initial report in this email for review. Sincerely, Doctor Johnson “That is interesting.” Douglas said in surprise. “do you mind if I ask for a copy of their report Dr. Go?” “Not at all but wait until I finish reading it first.” replied Dr. Go. The idea of a type of radiation that has no adverse health effects is indeed intriguing but it defies the current Physics model. This is what the technician thought as he went back to his computer and started typing. Accidentally pressing a wrong button, he brought up a satellite map of the world with a new overlay on it. Just as he was about to close the window he noticed that he brought up a radiation contamination map but it has some key differences. The first main difference is that the map doesn't focus on the GPA area but instead on the whole world. Second the radiation has spread out from the initial zone along lines that seems to crisscross the globe. Some of these lines are short and thick while other lines are long and thin. But all of the lines had one thing in common, they all seem to have higher levels of radiation than the surrounding areas with the highest levels in the pattern being closest to the Anomaly. “Uh, Doctor Go, would you take a look at this now please.” “Something the matter?” “First off, do we have a satellite in orbit that has the capabilities of that sensor module?” Douglas asked. “Yes, we swapped out the sensors on the last satellite before launch last week.” “then you should see this.” the technician said while pointing to the screen of his computer. Dr. Go walked over to see what the technician was saying. Once he saw the screen concern appeared on his face. “Odd, it kinda looks like a network of roads, or something like that. If anything I'm going to hazard a guess that these are Ley Lines and I’ll ask a friend for confirmation. Honestly I don't like where this is going.” he said. Dr. Go went back to his computer and brought up the image that Douglas showed him then brought up another window and started typing an email/report to a friend who believes in the supernatural that so far defies scientific explanation. Dear Sarah, I writing about a particular discovery and I hate to admit it but I would like your opinion on it. I'll send you the relevant information and reports even though it is a major breach of protocol given that this is related to the Great Pacific Anomaly (GPA). If my suspicions are correct, we are going to need your expertise real soon here. I’ve included a Nondisclosure agreement that you need to sign before you are authorized to see the information contained within the attached files. Your Friend, Frank Go After the email was finished with the attached files and sent on its way, Doctor Go looked at time that read December 10th, 2016 12:30 am. “I’m going to call it a night. G’night Doug.” … Location: Portland, Oregon Date & Time: December 10th, 2016 6:30 am In decent size house in a quiet neighborhood of Portland Oregon a family was just getting up to start the day. Sarah Vahlen is a proud mother of four children and a loving wife to one ambitious engineer of a husband. Waking up to the buzzing of an alarm clock which was unusual for a Saturday but Fred Vahlen must’ve forgotten to shut it off for the weekend. Groaning she said, “honey you forgot the alarm.” as she reached out shut the damned thing off and missing several times until she succeeded. Fred just got up stating that had to head into work today anyways because they're late on a project at work. Well, she thought bleary, might as well just get up and start the day anyway. Sarah quickly grabbed her bathrobe and headed for stairs as she heard Fred start the shower in the master bath. In the kitchen Sarah pulled out some ingredients and dishes and started making a large pancake breakfast for her family as they slowly made their way to the kitchen. The first to sit down at the table was her eldest daughter Emily who was unusually wide awake for a 14 year old on a Saturday morning. Emily was followed by her younger sister Katie, age 9, who was dressed in a My Little Pony pajamas and carrying a Twilight Sparkle stuffed animal. Sarah’s husband, Fred, was next at the table in a freshly pressed button up shirt and slacks just as the pancakes were set on the table. “You’re awake early Emily.” Sarah said, sitting down next to Fred. “couldn’t sleep, had an idea for a story that I had to write about.” Emily said in a cheery voice. “awe, I know how you are with those stories.” Said her mother. Sarah’s son Robbie, age 12, soon join them at the table already nose deep in a book about biology. The boy has an unusual curiosity for all things related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and has an I.Q. of 240, or at least according to the psychologist who tested him due to the fact that the tests didn't have a higher score. Robbie still had to go to school with kids his age for the arts, history and social interaction but otherwise left to his own devices for all other subjects. “nice to see you join us, Robbie.” said Kate sarcastically. “Good morning,” was all he said as he started eating, nose still deep in his book. The last member of the family walked in still drowsy with sleep was Anna, age 7, also wearing My Little Pony pajamas. “Wow, didn't think everyone would be up this early.” Said Sarah, nearly done with her breakfast. “I gotta get goin' honey, bye.” Fred said as he got up, collected his things and headed out the door. “See you this afternoon.” he called over his shoulder. “So kids, any plans for today?” Sarah asked. “I'll be writing for most of the day and going over to my friends house at three.” replied Emily. “I'll be collecting and studying plant samples from the nearby forest.” came from Robbie who still has his nose deep in his book. “Okay just be back by 5:00 pm for dinner. And Robbie, please make sure you have a handheld radio with you.” Said Sarah. “Yes mom.” The two youngest girls said they were going to watch TV and play games in the house today so Sarah wasn't overly concerned about their well being. Once everyone had their fill and their dishes were in the sink, Sarah went to her home office which was filled with stacks of books and papers about archaeological digs and ancient cultures. Sarah is an archaeologist with three doctorate degrees and specializes in Legends and Mythology. Sitting down at her computer, she noticed a email arrive during the night and the subject line says ‘important please respond ASAP’. Tightening her bathrobe around her like it would protect her from trouble, Sarah clicked on the email. In a new window the email read: Dear Sarah, I writing about a particular discovery and I hate to admit it but I would like your opinion on it. I'll send you the relevant information and reports even though it is a major breach of protocol given that this is related to the Great Pacific Anomaly (GPA). If my suspicions are correct, we are going to need your expertise real soon here. I’ve included a Nondisclosure agreement that you need to sign before you are authorized to see the information contained within the attached files. Your Friend, Frank Go Frank was an old college friend that Sarah kept in touch with from time to time, but the last time they talked was well over a year ago and she didn't know what he's doing now. Well the email answered that question. After reading through the NDA and signing it the next file was a report on the radiation field of GPA and possible health effects associated with it. It read: Project Divine Shield After confirmation that the radiation detected on board the Discovery and the Challenger was not due to equipment failure and was indeed a new type of radiation, I became quite concerned about possible health hazards since I and at least a few thousand people have been exposed to deadly levels of radiation if it were the kind that is given off from radioactive elements often found in nuclear reactor. So far I'm glad to say that no ill health effects have been reported, but we'll continue to monitor those who were exposed for any problems. Anyways to discover what effects this radiation has on the environment and what could possibly be used as shielding in case it is necessary to move the population to secure bunkers, we devised a series of tests where we exposed sample boxes made of the material in question to the radiation field for one hour at a time with a sensor and data set both inside and outside of the box. We were surprised to find out that crystals and gemstones seem to draw in the radiation until they reached a certain level and emitted some of the radiation back, this resulted in taking the experiments back to a more control environment found in a permanent lab. From there we used the irradiated crystals to test the materials again as well as exposed animal, plant, and even bacteria life to the radiation. Amazingly the animals and plants were unaffected and in some cases were even healthier than before exposure while the bacterial colony results are unknown while typing this report. My initial thoughts are while interesting, this radiation has too many unknowns to say if it is safe or not. Given that the radiation has inconsistent properties, only time will tell if this is a problem at all. Doctor Megan Johnson. Surprised by the name on the report, Sarah clicked on the following pages knowing that Megan was tended to be very precise with her work given that Sarah met Megan at a family reunion a few years ago. They were distant cousins that stayed in contact after the reunion and often involved each other with their separate projects when stumped. So it came as no surprise that the following pages were details on experiments along with detail medical reports that were surprisingly easy to read. And the more that Sarah read of the report, the more convinced she was reading about the scientific confirmation of magic or at least that's what she thought after looking her vast library of books on the Arcane Arts written by people who she thought were either crazy or were on to something. She got those books during a period when she magic was real during her college years. The next file was Frank’s work and the first thing that Sarah saw was a map of Earth and a map of the Pacific Ocean, both with an overlay that shows the radiation field of contamination of the Great Pacific Anomaly. Jaw dropping Sarah just stared at her computer screen. Now she knew what Frank meant by her expertise in his message. Sarah may have been a well known archaeologist, but only Frank knew that she is an expert magic or as close to one as you can get since magic wasn't proven to exist before now. Sarah quickly typed out a response stating that all the information and results were consistent with what she knew about magic. Just before she hit the send button the CB radio on the desk gave a burst of static before a voice became somewhat clear. “Mom, you there?” asked Robbie’s slightly panicking voice over the radio. “Mom, something weird is happening out here. Please help!” the radio went dead.
Ch. 3 DisasterCh. 3 Disaster Location: Portland, Oregon Date & Time: December 10th, 2016 10:30 am Sarah was panicking about her son Robbie who sent a distress call 15 minutes ago just before his radio cut out. She managed to get a hold of her husband, telling him that Robbie is in trouble. Now she was pacing back and forth in her office with panic as she waits for help to arrive. It wasn’t long until a police officer rang the doorbell, the sound of the bell bringing Sarah back to her senses for a moment. At the door the officer and his partner stood in Portland police uniforms with somewhat tired look on their faces. “Morning ma’am, we received a call about a missing child case. Were you the one who called us?” asked the first officer. “Yes, come in please.” Sarah said, standing aside and directing officers to the family room. “Would you like something to drink?” “Thanks but no, we're on a tight schedule since we're a little under staffed right now. Could you tell us what happened to your son?” the second officer asked, sitting down on the couch. “Robbie, well I was in my home office reading some files a colleague sent me when I received a call over the CB radio from my son. He said something weird was happening then said help before the radio cut out.” Sarah answered, sitting in a chair next to the couch. “Okay, do you know where your son was at the time?” “Yes, he was in the nearby forest collecting plant samples and such for his lab.” “His lab?” “Yes lab, he has a small lab/workshop in the garage.” “And how old is your son now?” “he’s 12 years old.” “twelve!?! Why would you let a 12 year old run around a forest unsupervised let alone have a lab?!” “You do know that you're talking about my son here. And besides he's a genius that they can't measure the I.Q. of despite the efforts of psychologists.” “Oh, I think I heard about that in the news a few years ago. I shouldn’t judge your parenting methods but I can't understand why you let him go alone. Anyways do you have a picture of him to help the search.” “Yes, just a minute,” Sarah said as she went to dig out an old photo album. She came back quickly with Robbie’s most recent school picture. “Here you go. This was taken just a few months ago.” “Thanks, we'll go gather a search party and be back shortly.” … Meanwhile about thirty minutes or so ago in the nearby forest. Robbie Vahlen was walking down a small trail that is mostly used by animals. It was cold and wet out thanks to it being winter but the area doesn’t experience snow because of the ocean about 50 miles away bringing somewhat warm air to the area. Looking towards the ground Robbie noticed a set of animal tracks that looked a little off but thought nothing about it as he continued on deeper into the forest. He already collected many samples of plants, a few rock and soil samples, and a few pictures of animals and was thinking about going home but he wanted to just go a little further in than he done in the past. Walking around the bend of the trail, Robbie saw a couple of weird plants and crystals mixed among them. The plants had a dark blue stem with blue leaves and a light blue flower on top. Knowing that the plants could be toxic but still wanting a sample anyways, he took a sample bag and carefully put an entire plant in it while making sure not to touch the plant. With the plant safely stowed, Robbie also reached for a crystal as well but just as he grabbed the crystal, a spark jumped the gap and raced up his arm shocking him. He jumped back holding his hand in pain while inspecting his fingers for damage. Once satisfied that there's no damage he grabbed the crystal again a little more cautiously this time. When the crystal did not shock him this time, Robbie thought it was weird as he also stowed the crystal in his bag. Soon he continued on his way until he came to a strange clearing, where at the center of the clearing stood a crystal that is as large as a man with many smaller crystals of different sizes around it. Okay time to call mom, thought Robbie as he pull out his out his radio. Turning on the radio Robbie spoke into the microphone, “Mom, you there?” his voice had edge of panic to it. “Mom, something weird is happening out here.” A growl sounded behind him. “Please help.” and with that said he dropped the radio on to the ground. Turning very slowly around, he came face to face with a humongous wolf. But this wolf was strange, first off it was closer in size to a grizzly bear. Second this wolf was not made of flesh and blood, but rather dead wood and moss which made perfect camouflage in the forest if it weren't for the eyes that glowed a bright green light. And thirdly, the way this wolf moved makes you think nothing but the wind is blowing through the trees until it growls or howls nearby. The timber wolf stalk ever closer from the edge of the clearing as Robbie slowly step away from it. The fear was evident on his face as the wolf continued to growl at him showing off splinter like teeth. His foot hit and trip over his fallen radio giving the wolf the chance to pounce on it's prey, the wolf leapt at him going for his face and throat. He only had enough time to bring his arm up to protect his face before the beast hit him, knocking Robbie off his feet onto his back. It was a painful landing as Robbie’s bag dug into his back and as the wolf chomped down on his left arm. While the wolf was tearing up his arm, Robbie frantically reached out for something with his right hand, anything that he could use as a weapon to dislodge the wolf from his arm. Finally, his fingers wrapped around a decent size rock that he then brought up and whacked the wolf's head several times with all the force he could muster. It was enough to cause the wolf to let go, a little dazed from attack which was then followed up by an awkward punch to the snout from Robbie’s bleeding left arm. This caused the wolf to back up a step shaking it's head in surprise. Robbie tried to roll onto his belly so his backpack could provide some protection, but with the wolf still on top of him regaining it's wits he had to find a different strategy quick. He still has the stone in his hand and his knees is almost directly right beneath the wolf's jaw. The wolf had recovered by this point and was about to lunge forward jaw open to try to rip out Robbie’s throat. Robbie brought up his legs and knee the jaw shut before he threw the stone at beast’s head which was a hit followed by a double kick that just managed to get the wolf off of him. The wolf decided to circle around the boy as he rolled over onto his belly, exhaustion on Robbie’s face clear for the world to see. He has to end this soon or he’ll die a gruesome death, well he might still die even if he survives the fight. Robbie grabbed a long broken crystal near his right hand and turned at the last moment when the wolf leapt at him again, ignoring the major shock through his body while doing so. The crystal went through it's wooden head like a knife through butter killing the beast. Robbie backed up pulling his arm out of the thing’s mouth not fully comprehending what he had done and unaware of all the injuries he sustained from the fight. Now that he no longer needs to fight for his life, he passes out from exhaustion. … Some hours later. Sarah cautiously walked along a forest trail calling out Robbie’s name every so often while her group kept an eye open for the young boy. Her group consisted of four others that volunteer for the search party, each were worried for the boy’s well being. Since the police didn't have the manpower to do a search of the forest, many people volunteer to help despite the cold wet weather. The volunteers work out a system where teams of five will follow each of the four trails that ran through this forest calling out Robbie’s name. Each team had a designated person that had a two-way radio, another for the survival pack that all groups were required to carry, and three volunteers who carried anything else deemed necessary which so happen to be a thermal imaging camera and one of the modified Geiger counter that can detect the strange radiation. The trail was rough but bearable for Sarah since she often had to hike to dig sites during her career. This trail needed some maintenance as there was some fallen trees blocking the path as well as some plants growing in the middle of it too. At one point they came to a fork in the trail, one path was clear and obviously part of the parks system but the other path was little more than a game trail. As a matter of fact, it wasn't even on the map. “I feel like we should go this way.” Sarah said pointing at the unmarked path. “It’s possible that Robbie went down that path but what makes you feel like it's the right one?” the park ranger asked. “First off, I know what my son was doing when he called for help. And second, I see footprints in the mud leading that way that looks like my son's.” Sarah said in a hostile way. There was a look of disbelief on everyone's faces as those words sunk in. The park ranger decided to take a closer look at the alternative path. “Alright, so far your theory holds merit. But we'll need to hurry because look over at this.” he said pointing out a new track that looks like a wolf's but is as big as a grizzly bear paw. “Let me call in our plan and location, then we'll go.” he said going off to side to do just that. Everyone was uneasy about what they might find at the end but nobody wanted to turn back as they cautiously follow the trail of prints deeper into the forest. After about forty minutes, the group came across evidence of Robbie stopping to take samples of a strange blue plant that they never seen before. “awe, pretty.” one of the group said as she approach the flower to pick it. “don't touch that flower!” exclaimed the ranger. “We don't know if it's harmful or not. I've never seen it before in my 20 years of being a Park Ranger.” “Oh, okay.” The group continued on keeping an eye on the ground for anymore of the flowers. They came around a bend in the path and stop right in their tracks as they couldn't understand what they were seeing. Before them was a clearing filled with many multicolored crystals that seem to glow. But that wasn’t what got their attention, what got their attention was the grizzly size wolf that was made of wood and moss and had a long crystal sticking through it's head. Sarah was the first to break out of stupor when she noticed Robbie laying limp on the ground near the beast’s head in a slowly growing puddle of blood. “Oh my god.” she gasped as she rushed to Robbie’s side. “Please be alive, please be alright.” she begged trying feel for a pulse. Feeling a weak pulse she sigh, “He’s alive. He is alive, but just barely.” in relief. That was all the group needed to break into action. The ranger called over the radio saying that the boy was found and needed immediate medical attention. The three others surrounded the injured boy to assess the extent of the injuries and to stop the bleeding. Sarah became so emotional that the ranger had to drag her away from the boy as they waited for help. Fifteen minutes later they all heard the telltale sounds of a helicopter approaching. The radio flared to life, “team B, we need you to send up a flare. Over” “Copy that,” the ranger said into the radio before popping a flare up. The helicopter quickly zeroed in on their location after that. “the trees are too close so we can't land, we're going to lower the basket.” Sarah grabbed the radio from the ranger and said, “let me join you up there.” “No can do. We only got room for one maybe two people.” “please this is my son here, please let me come.” she pleaded into the radio. There was a pause, no doubt that the crew were debating the request. Finally the answer came, “Alright, we'll let you can come, but you have to listen to us.” By that time the basket has touched the ground and the volunteers were already securing Robbie into it. Robbie was slowly raised to the hovering aircraft and he disappear from view inside. The basket came back down and Sarah hopped in almost as soon as it was low enough to do so. A thought made itself apparent, what were the radiation levels in the clearing? She thought that such a beast like a large wooden wolf could not exist naturally and if her theory is true, that wolf is a magical creature. Once she's in the chopper the winch operator handed her a set of headphones. “Wear this!” he yelled over the noise of the craft, and she followed his instructions. “Good, now we can hear each other. Please sit down in that chair.” he said pointing to a seat. “Sir, is there any way I could contact my cousin? I think she needs to know about this immediately.” “Just a moment, Lt. Harrison what's his stats?” the officer called out, beginning to write down what he heard as Lt. Harrison started calling out numbers. Sarah tried over and over to get their attention but they were professional in their tasks. Finally the officer turn to her after Robbie’s bandages were removed for cleaning the wounds. “My god, what did this?” “That’s what I'm trying to tell you and I don’t think you'll believe me.” “just gonna say he looks like an animal attacked him, except for the wood here.” “Well you are right in that assessment, but not by a normal animal. He was attacked by a large wolf the size of a grizzly bear that’s made of wood.” “You’re right, I don't believe you, but why does this concerns your cousin?” “The area we were in had extremely high radiation levels of the same type of that found in the Great Pacific Anomaly.” “Oh come on! Captain! Change of plans, instead heading for Portland General Hospital, we need to make for the military base. Code Orange.” there was a string of curses that followed that comment from the rest of the crew. They were only a quarter mile from the hospital when they had to change directions. “Anyways who is your cousin?” “Doctor Magen Johnson.” … Location: Portland, Oregon Military base and Naval yard Time: 1:00 pm The crew of the base’s air traffic control tower noticed that one of the air ambulance that was heading towards Portland General Hospital suddenly change directions and was now heading towards the military base. This was very confusing as this kind of thing doesn't happen without good reason. “Flight 2910, please respond. Over.” called an air traffic controller. “This is flight 2910, over.” “we noticed you've changed direction and are heading towards restricted air space. Please confirm if this true.” “You are correct.” “please state your reasons for this change.” “we got a possible code Orange for you.” “Did you say code orange?” his comment got his colleagues attention. “Yes, a code orange, and in need of immediate medical attention.” “Uh copy that. Please continue your current heading and land at helicopter pad 2.” he let go of the Com button and turned to his CO and said, “We got an incoming code orange, alert the boys in R&D that medical attention is needed.” … Dr. Megan Johnson was in her newly constructed office in the underground lab look at the latest test results for shielding from the strange radiation of the Great Pacific Anomaly. So far a particular alloy seems to work well for the task but is not perfect as some of the radiation still leaks through. Just as she was writing so notes down, the phone rings, putting a dampener on her mood as she picked up the phone. “Hello, Project Divine Shield, Doctor Johnson speaking.” “Dr. Johnson, you're about to get company. We got a code orange incoming, medical attention needed.” said the base commander over the phone. The phone went dead. Great, another person exposed again. Hopefully it would be a false alarm like the three times before, but this time it's different. A medical emergency is coupled with it so that could be a problem. Magen got up and headed for the medical area of the underground lab as she heard the alarm start up. She met with the medical staff just as the elevator ding open to reveal four soldiers carrying a stretcher with a 12 year old boy on it. A fifth soldier was carrying a backpack that belongs to the boy. Magen didn't see the boy’s face but all the blood drained from her face when she saw who was following the last soldier. For the last person she wanted to see at that moment just walked in, her cousin Sarah Vahlen. It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together that the boy was Robbie Vahlen, Sarah’s son. She met her cousin before Sarah could enter the medical bay. “Sarah, you're the last person I want to see here. What happened?” Megan asked. “Robbie called for help before his radio cut out. When we found him, he was out cold on the ground bleeding from his arms and legs next to dead body of a wolf.” “Okay, but that doesn't explain why you're both here.” “Well where we found him was in a clearing filled with many glowing multicolored crystals and here's the part you won't believe. The wolf was as big as a grizzly and was made of wood and moss.” Sarah pulled out a digital camera and showed Magen the pictures she somehow had taken without anyone noticing. … Location: Canterlot Castle throne room Date and Time: December 10th, 2016 1:30 pm Princess Celestia sat on her throne trying to ignore a growing headache as ponies lined up to petition complaints as many of the ponies were family members of guards that were called back into service from their holiday vacations. Even the nobles were complaining about it since their normal business was interrupted by the steady influx of concern citizens. She was in the middle of alleviating the concern of particularly distress pregnant mare, who was worried her husband had to be called away so close to her due date, when her secretary whispered something into her ear. “Sorry, I have to cut this short miss Honeywell, but something has come up that needs my attention. I'll try to make sure Mr. Honey Shield is there for the birth of your child but I can't make any guarantees on the matter. Farewell my little pony.” Celestia said, dismissing the mare before turning to her secretary. “Mr. Sharp Schedule please let the petitioners know that I'm not taking anymore petitions today unless it's a real emergency situation. Oh, and please let Mr Honey Shield know he is on family leave unless he feels like he is needed at his post.” “Yes Princess, right away and would you like me to send in the messengers?” asked Sharp Schedule. “Yes please.” A moment later the doors opened to a slightly out of breath pegasus in a weather service vest. He looked to have gone through a major storm to get to the palace for he was dripping wet and slightly singe. Yet the weather schedule said that it's supposed to be sunny with only a couple of light snow storms across the country today. Something was obviously wrong just by judging the stallion’s odd appearance. “Princess, the weather is completely out of our control right now.” he said in panic, not even bothering with formalities. “currently we got a major storm blowing in from the north dumping enough snow to bury Ponyville.” he paused for a breath. “Is this all that’s wrong?” “No, Manehattan is experiencing a large coastal storm that's flooding many homes and businesses. I’ve got similar reports from up and down the east coast. The Crystal Empire is in such an intense blizzard that the magic dome that protects it has shattered. Seadaddle has ice blocking their harbor, Appleloosa has a dust storm, and Cloudsdale been blown off course and is falling apart. The weather factory there been destroyed. I don't know about the rest of the country country, but Canterlot is the only place where we still have control.” “Wow I never thought it get this bad. Do you know what is causing all this?” “Well not really, but I have a theory. At every location of these weather problems there are cracks in the sky above them. I think that's the source of the problems so far.” “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. For now focus on the safety of the ponies in Cloudsdale and see what you can salvage of the weather factory there.” Celestia said with great concern. The pegasus turned to leave when another pony burst through the door carrying a worn-out and injured griffin who really needed to see the doctor. Unfortunately the griffin insisted on seeing the Princess before the doctor but didn't a reason why. “Princess Celestia, what is going on here!?!.” the griffin exclaim. Before Celestia could speak he cut her off. “I come here seeking aid for my people and on my way here I find that Equestria is in just as much chaos as the griffin empire! If I didn't know better, I say Discord is up to his old tricks again.” “I’m sorry to hear that the griffons are not doing much better than us at the moment and I'm sure that I'll get more reports and request like yours before the day is over. I think this disaster will be over with soon but until then please be patient.” “be patient! Why I never…” the griffin said as he was carried away by a guard towards the infirmary. “ugh… it's going to be a long day,” she said as another messenger arrived. … Location: Ponyville, Equestria All throughout the land disasters popped up as the dimensional barrier finally began to break, but the magic which caused these disasters will not allow the creatures caught in them to be seriously hurt or killed by them. That is the saving grace or at least that's what Twilight Sparkle thought as she and Spike worked at melting the snow that deep enough to buried her tree castle. She woke up to the sight of snow blocking her window this morning, something that doesn't happen when your bedroom window is fifty feet from the ground. “What’s with all this snow?” Twilight asked in frustration when the snow tunnel collapsed again. “I know that we weren't schedule this much snow.” Spike, who was out of breath from breathing fire, took a gasp before saying, “Could this be related to the chaos magic?” Twilight was about say something in reply when a thought occurred to her. “Spike, you're right. Let's go inside, I have some calculations to do. Uh… where's Starlight Glimmer?” “down here.” came a voice from a pile of snow. “Ah we’ll have you out in a moment.” “Thanks.” … The Great Pacific Anomaly was beginning to look very much like a massive dome of light to the naval blockade and the coastal cities within a 1,000 miles from the site. Many earthquake sensors were picking up quakes from the area. If anything, everyone knew something going happen and it’ll happen soon. Almost everyone were watching TVs and many were thinking the end of days has arrived or close to it anyways. Captain Morgan sat on the bridge of the Discovery keeping one eye on his sensors while nervously eyeing the light dome that covered 170° arc in front of him. The Discovery currently sat in the middle of a ring five ships, a cruiser, two destroyers, and two frigates. Their sensors were all linked together so that if something was picked up by one ship, they all would see it. The military commanders had drafted Captain Morgan and the crew of the Discovery as their ship has the most powerful and precise sensors available. The dome suddenly collapse before a multicolored shock wave exploded outwards. Captain Morgan grabbed the intercom microphone saying, “brace for impact.” managing to duck down behind the console seconds impact. All the windows shattered as the wave of rainbow light passed over everything and continued on.* Following the shock wave was a loud roaring sound as a huge wall of water appeared on the horizon. With his helmsman still dazed, Captain Morgan took the helm and steered a course for the wave and gunned the engine. The other ships quickly followed suit as everyone started praying that they’ll survive. First the cruiser’s bow dipped in a little before going nearly straight up as the wave hit. This happened to nearly every ship as they went over the top of it and came back down on the other side. “Damage report.” called out Captain Morgan . “Aside from broken glass and a few minor injuries, surprisingly nothing to report sir.” “Ah Thank God.” Morgan sighed in relief. “Sir, sensors are picking up a massive landmass nearly a hundred miles ahead of us.” “Wait for orders from command.” “Captain, orders from fleet command to investigate the landmass sir.” “Of course, proceed with caution.”
