//------------------------------//
// Ch. 2 A Troubling Letter 
// Story: Widening the Lenses: Equestria Rising 
// by Treasurehunter20 
//------------------------------//

Ch. 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.