This story is a sequel to Brightly Lit
It's been six weeks since Equestria came to the world and a desperate battle against a creature of myth and legend was fought. Six weeks of our world coming to terms with new knowledge, new insights, and new ways of thinking about our place in the universe.
It has also been six weeks of Twilight Sparkle being in charge of Equestria. Of sitting on the throne, of hearing things secondhoof while others get to explore a strange new world full of insights and information. A world teeming with books. So many books.
Turbulent times will engulf both worlds as they are enveloped by the storm of change that seeks to swamp them all in anarchy and chaos. And in a storm, all ships seek out the brightly lit beacon of a lighthouse. Of the Pharos.
Another story from, The Canary Files.
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Now why would you bring a helicopter into an airspace known to be frequented by nocturnal fliers? Better to float in from much further away and then use the chopper for rapid evac.
But what do I know, I'm just a grumpy old dragon.
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Grumpy old dragons don't assume that tech is the only away to fly.
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You know what they say, "assume makes an ass of you and me." Or, in this case, gets you arrested and makes you the centerpiece of a truly nasty international incident.
Well. Current politics does give you a lot of fuel for interesting events. You are spoiled for choice, really, when it comes to stupid moves some of the involved administrations might pull in a situation like this.
Love this start. Mary Island lighthouse in a magnificent piece of scenery.
As opposed to the usual?
Much to Luna's delight, I imagine.
Lame pun is lame.
Looks great so far. Though, I want to add one thing.
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The moment you give the Princesses godlike powers including partial omniscience (day, night, dreams, etc..) all tension in this story is gone. The pony/Canadian side has a firm "I win" button in any conflict.
10061963
She's lying through her teeth, one of the town bats saw the chopper on the way in. But spinning a yarn about all-seeing haunts may help to ward off any more incursions by heavily-armed "tourists".
EEEEEEEEEE!!! So excited to see this story continuing again! I wonder what kind of adventures are scheduled this time. Can't wait for the next chapters!
AAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yes! It has returned!
Good start!
Alright who's been letting Luna watch anime?
10062593
I left the door unlocked by accident ok?
(Jk XD)
What a start to Brightly Lit 2! I can hardly wait to see where it goes next.
10061963
As Venerable said, Luna was straight up bluffing. Far better to make an opponent think they were discovered for one reason when in reality it was a completely different one.
10062593
I mean I would Lol
I am reminded of a scene from the Star Wars comic, Vader Down. When a hundred or so of the rebellion surround him, his response is, "All I am surrounded by is fear. And dead men."
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Go get 'em, Captain Carrot!
Now this is interesting. The idea that the darkness can be bargained with, can be reasoned with, raises all sorts of possibilities about its nature...
For those of you who don't know, the current consensus is that "Canada" broadly means "that village over there".
Yeah. I looked into it a while back, and was surprised to find out just how much of Canada was explicitly considered to be its own independent territory when Canada was formed.
Well, those are all minor charges—compared to transporting said weapons across international borders. Also, being in Canada themselves without valid papers issued from the Canadian government is further fuel for that fire.
Glad to see this is going again so soon. Love your work, Penalt!
10061963 You seem to be a little confused there. What she claims out loud is not exactly what is. They admit later in the chapter that it was a bat pony that spotted the soldiers' bird, and not Luna's supposed night magic that saw them.
10064518
Canada gets kinda picky about weapon offenses. Ever since the Ecole Polytechnique incident.
I don't mind the adult politics one bit, I love Earth/Equestrian politics in first contact stories, more of this please!
That said:
That America is being a dumb-dumb and treating a known ally to the new aliens with increased hostility is only going to damage your own future relations with the new aliens? I'd figure the US government would be recommending its best negotiators to help settle this problematic deal. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar and all that. Black Ops teams to harm and/or capture those close to the new alien guests is like seeing the vinegar and going "wait! We can replace that with used motor oil!"
Also, visas. I doubt black ops wanting to go in and out secretly would have taken the time to visit to visit the embassy and customs.
Customs officer: "Purpose of your visit?"
Salem: "Work. Finding and subduing local aliens. Get some blood, skin, fur, hoof scrapes, feathers, horn scrapes, whatever we can get to take home."
Customs officer: "..." *reaches for security button*
10062026
While true, Luna being able to walk, see and communicate through dreams is very real. It's something the show only rarely uses, since it tends to take out the Princesses before anyone else, but the ability to walk dreams would be a very powerful tool.
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Well on the theme of politics, if we're using *current date* then the legislative branch of the American government would be furiously attempting to undermine the efforts of the executive branch. Because politics.
And on the subject of dreams, interestingly enough I believe special forces are trained to go for extended periods of time with no sleep whatsoever. Something of a speculative corner case, but a plausible blind spot.
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But to the point of sabotaging American relationships for a long time? Oh who am I kidding, they absolutely would.
And the special forces themselves, I can believe to go without sleep for a while. The executive desk officers that made and signed the plans though?
10065343
Well there's 330-something million people living in America, so finding the right dude's dream would take quite some doing. What kind of range does she have on that dream-walking?
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Completely unknown, so arguments for her range can go anywhere. At the very least her range stretches across Equestria, and we've seen her able to call on specific dreamers in short order, and recognize certain dreams as nightmares out of however many inhabitants Equestria has.
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I suppose we'll just have to keep reading. I am quite looking forward to this, ever since Uncommon Ground finished up I've been missing a good geopolitics story.
10064593 Heh, weapons trafficking is another 3-10 years stacked on each of those. It's to be noted judges normally only shoot for the high end of that when the guns are also restricted ones (which carbines and such are). Oh, and then there's hunting in a nature reserve without permits and with restricted firearms.
But, ultimately, they will be released (likely without any but cursory incarceration) because politics.
10065417
Agreed! I've grown very fond of geopolitical MLP stories, and this one seems to be off to a fun start.
10065417
10065375
Yes, there is a range. And yes, it is a specific number. And yes, it is strictly due to the current location in space/time.
Now to see how much the issue of cutie marks can derail things.
10081456
You are not kidding...
Hmm, I wonder if this is going to be the memetic 'Champions of Discord himself' CMC, or the more competent CMC to cross the border. So far, with the way they're written I'm leaning towards the later, which is very interesting to consider.
The CmC on earth....
things can only get worse from there. Also...why doesn't Twilight just teleport things across? In fact why not just teleport themselves? It's pretty much just teleporting through a window after all. Silly ponies trying to fit physically through all these physical barriers and not using their heads xDOh, Twilight. Don't you know?
Really getting that vibe it'll go down similar to how the CMC were in "Farmer Bruener Has Some Ponies" by Georg. Running off and getting into everything. They should never be near heavy machinery.
Any story with kids is improved by the addition of CMCs.
Oh you silly fillies.
I'm sure everything will be fine and nothing can possibly go wrong!
10081594
Row row fight the power
10066312
When is the next update?
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As soon as I can recover enough from my work injury to write.
Luna, you do realize that there's no way on heaven or earth that he's going to be keeping that? I'd honestly be disappointed with him if he even entertained the idea. No ranger has any business making a private deal with a foreign leader.
I was so excited to see a chapter of this length. And then so frustrated at how soon I reached the end.
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I'm fairly sure Captain Rios will make a full report to his superiors
im glad your feeling better
To paraphrase from Kingdoms of Amalur, "A doctor treats a patient hoping they never have to again".
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It's a process. To quote the comment I gave to the one who holds my reins, "My injury was basically the capstone on a pyramid of hurt I've been building for some time now." It's going to take awhile to tear down that pyramid.
In the future I have to remember that just because I am physically capable of a thing, it does not mean I should do the thing.