• Published 31st Jan 2020
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Brightly Lit 2: Pharos - Penalt



Equestria and Earth have met in the town of Brightly BC. Will the fires of friendship be enough to keep the small, isolated town safe? Or will demands from both worlds tear it apart?

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Chapter 15: Aftermath

Predictably, it was the non-flier of the group who first noticed the change in the aircraft.

“Why are the engines slowing down?” nervously asked Captain Watson, clutching at her seat rests. “And we’re turning too!”

“Oh you’re just— hang on, you’re right,” replied the leader of Team Mercury, before reaching over to tap the intercom to the pilot’s compartment.

“Pilot, what’s going on? Why are we changing course?” Major Donavich demanded. “We are supposed to be on a direct route to Bella Coola.”

“Sorry sir,” apologized the man up front. “But I’ve just received orders to divert to CFB Comox.”

“Comox? Why the hell would we be going there?” Nao asked, glancing over to her fellow CIA officer.

“The base is a holdover from the Cold War,” was Prism’s accented response. “It still retains many facilities from that time. Interceptor aircraft on ready alert, an airfield long enough for a B-52, and a direct link to NORAD. I would say that someone wants to talk to us over a secured link.”

“That damn new do-nothing president,” cursed Donavich, lips curling into a snarl. “He’s calling off our mission. Dammit, I knew this was coming.”

“I don’t think so,” commented Nao, slipping into her mindset of the Empress of Psyops. “His profile shows that he is more than capable of direct action if he feels it necessary, while at the same time having a distinct dislike of showy displays of power. If he were aborting our mission he would not hesitate to tell us directly and we would likely already be turning back toward America.”

“You’re sure?” Mercury asked, calming somewhat at the reassurance.

“Nothing is ever completely sure when dealing with people’s emotions, but I am fairly confident in my assessment,“ Empress said, slipping tones of encouragement and reassurance into her voice. “No, we aren’t being recalled. More than likely something has changed and the president, or senior command, feels we need updated information.”

“What in the hell could have changed that much?” Mercury asked of the two intelligence officers under his command.

“Whatever it is, we should find out soon,” Empress smoothly replied, gesturing out one of the plane’s windows where a coastal airport could be seen as the craft banked towards it.


“Mom! Mom?” called out Seeker and Shield Maiden in unison, as both young ponies tried to prod some semblance of life out of the fallen body of Foxfire.

“Jean!” Mayor Montcalm echoed, huffing and puffing as he jogged up.

“What’s wrong with Mom?” cried Shield Maiden, now very much the little girl that she still was inside. “She told me to take care of everybody and then she…”

“Sh-she’s not—” stuttered Seeker, tears running down her face.

“NO!” Montcalm insisted, getting down to asses the pregnant mare as best she could, as around him the people of Brightly moved to help others. “See? She’s breathing, she’s not dead.”

“But why won’t she get up?” begged the younger pony. “She’s just lying there.”

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” assured the greying older man, as he lifted his head and shouted, “HARKINS! I mean, MEDEVAC! We need you!”

“Coming!” called the red and white coloured pegasus, running through the press of bodies. “I’m coming.”

“Foxfire’s down, no idea why,” Montcalm explained quickly, as the pegasus finished galloping up. “No wounds I can see anywhere.”

“You can fix her? Right?” Rowy asked, her eyes just as tear filled as her sister’s. “You can use your magic, an’ find out why she won’t get up.”

“No, I can’t,” Medevac calmly replied, placing a hoof against Foxfire’s throat and then chest. “Pulse and breathing are steady. But that’s all I can tell here. Can you help me get her back to the clinic? I want to use my ultrasound machine to check on the baby.”

“Wait,” Montcalm said, as confused as the two younger ponies were by Medevac’s failure to use her special abilities. “Can’t your wings tell you all that?”

“No, they can’t. Not anymore,” Medevac responded in that same calm voice that Montcalm realized was being used to hide the medical pony’s true emotions. “I can’t fly either right now. Best I can manage is a shallow glide.”

“Right,” Montcalm stated, scooping up the unconscious mare in his arms, deciding to deal with one problem at a time. “My car is right over there. Let’s get going.”

The man and four ponies made their way to an older SUV, being stopped a couple of times as people asked the mayor what they should be doing or who to help. It became clear that of all those present only the princesses and Velasquez were missing, plus property damage had been limited by Shield Maiden’s spell. In fact, the only lasting issue was growing confusion as to what exactly had happened.

Darrell Montcalm was just settling the recumbent body of Foxfire in the backseat of his SUV when someone tapped his shoulder.

“Excuse me,” began a heavily accented European voice. “Would you ‘appen to know whose ponies these are?”

Montcalm and the ponies turned to see the group from CERN standing behind them, three members of the physicist field team were each holding an unconscious young pony in their arms. One was an orange pegasus with a reddish-pink mane, the second was a small white unicorn with a two toned grayish rose and pink mane, while the third was a tough little earth pony with a red mane, into which had been affixed a huge bow.

“No, and I thought I knew every pony in Brightly,” Medevac said, noting the senseless state of all three of the unknown trio. “Please put them in the back of the mayor’s car.”

“Of course,” commented the man who had spoken, who seemed to be of an age with the mayor.

“Why can’t I open the door?” Shield Maiden demanded, her orange magic popping and fizzling against the latch of the vehicle’s rear hatch. “I can barely do anything.”

“I can’t see tho good either,” added Romy, no longer crying but her facial fur was still matted from tears. “Like only a little bit.”

“Do not worry, mon petite poney,” assured the scientist, popping open the rear compartment of the SUV before going around to open the other doors. “All will be well.”

“Y-you think tho?” stuttered the small earth pony, leaning against her mother for all she was worth.

“I do, ma petite,” comforted the man, having grandchildren of his own, and giving Seeker a final pat on the head before closing the truck’s door behind her.

“Hey boss,” announced Ben Thompson as he jogged up. The lean young fireman was barely breathing hard, much to the mayor’s disgust at the hardiness of the young. “Just appears to be some light damage to a few buildings, mostly from thrown debris, plus a couple of hits from whatever it was that came out of that portal thing. Other than that just some panicked folks, especially the out-of-towners. No offense, Sir.”

“None taken,” the lead CERN scientist replied with a nod. “We are guests in your exciting town. With your permission, Monsieur Mayor, I will see to my people.”

“Thanks for the help,” Montcalm replied, trying to keep the snap out of his tone as he shifted to address the youngest member of his fire team. “Look Ben, I need to get moving. Foxfire’s down hard, and Medevac and I are about to run her to the clinic to see if we can find out what’s wrong.”

“Can’t she just…” Thompson’s hands waved as he tried to mime Medevac’s usual method of diagnosing a problem.

“No, she can’t,” shot back Montcalm, feeling the press of time. “None of them can.”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m hearing from some other folks,” Ben supplied quickly, adding in, “oh, and most electronics are out. Anything with a transistor either isn’t working or is wonky as hell.”

“What are you talking about? My truck is running,” Montcalm pointed out, quickly checking the needles of all the gauges on his dashboard.

In mute answer the young man simply pulled out one of the fire department’s radios and turning it on, flipped from one preset frequency to another.

Ntud as dtx zxbxs txqqz uyx dtizx dtasfz?

<click>

Gû kîbum kelkum-ishi, burzum-ishi. Akha gûm-ishi ashi gurum.

<click>

Heghlu'meH QaQ jajvam!

<click>

Nivahriin muz fent siiv nid aaz het.


“See what I mean?” Ben asked with nervous laughter, sobering as he looked in the back seat and spotted the unfolding drama with his friend Seeker and her mother. “Anyway, I’d better let you get going. I’ll keep up on things here.”

“Tell every pony in Brightly to come to the clinic,” Medevac called quickly, in sudden decision. “I want to see if all of us are in the same fix. Boss, we need to get going.”

“Update me later, Ben. And good work,” Montcalm said, pulling away and making a mental note to apologize to the young man later. Ben had done a good job taking control of things on his own and deserved better than to have his boss snap at him.

Even with the influx of people that had nearly double the population of the remote hamlet, it still only took ten minutes for Montcalm and his pony cargo to reach the small clinic that was Medevac’s primary workplace these days. Already there was a small lineup outside containing most of the town’s population of semi-permanent ponies, along with a few older figures that the mayor recognized as members of Father Addison’s church.

“I’ve got an emergency case folks,” Medevac stated, hopping out of the truck to address the dozen or two people outside. “We’d appreciate some help getting these ponies inside.”

“It’s okay, I’m on it,” called Kevin Banta, Medevac’s all human partner, as he opened the small building’s double doors with a pair of stretchers behind him. “Plus, I dug out the major casualty supplies when I heard the boom. I tried to call you on the radio to find out what was going on, but the thing has gone… weird.”

“Ben showed us. Give us a hand getting Foxfire and the others inside,” Medevac ordered, slipping fully into ‘doctor’ mode. “Darrell, once our patient is situated can you take the girls outside please?”

“We wanna stay with Mom!” Shield Maiden immediately cried out, Seeker’s voice only a second behind hers.

“I know. You girls are strong and brave, but you aren’t trained for this,” Medevac replied in a fast but kind voice, as she followed Montcalm and Banta as they carried Foxfire into the unit. “Maybe you can stay with these other ponies and keep an eye on them for me?”

“We can learn, and I can still see thome stuff,” Seeker answered, lip trembling.

“I know you can, and any other day I’d be happy to teach you,” Medevac responded, crossing the threshold and stepping into the plastic bootie station she'd set up so her hooves wouldn’t impinge on a sterile field. “But today isn’t the day for a young pony to try out new things. Today is a day where everyone needs to do the things they already know how to do.”

“And down,” Montcalm was saying, as he and Kevin lowered Foxfire onto the trauma bed.

“Right, I’ve got this,” Banta replied, swift motions sliding a blood pressure cuff onto one leg and getting out a stethoscope as the cuff inflated. “Boss, can you go put the other three in the intermediate care room?”

“Right. C’mon girls,” Montcalm said, turning toward the young fillies who were both on the edge of tears again. “Let’s—”

“Girls?” asked a voice from one of the clinic’s two intermediate care rooms. “Is that you? What’s going on?”

“Oh shit,” Medevac breathed. “I forgot he was still here.”

“I’m on it,” Montcalm assured, before getting down on one knee to look Foxfire’s daughters in the face. “C’mon, we need to let Iron Heart know what’s happened. But we need to keep him calm too, so he doesn’t try to hurt himself trying to be with your mom. Can you help me with that, and help me with keeping an eye on these other ponies until Medevac can get to them?”

“O-okay,” stammered Seeker, her mane bobbing as she nodded.

“Thanks, and I really mean that because this is a more than one person job,” replied the mayor as he began pushing the stretcher holding the other three unconscious ponies out of the critical care room, two ponies trailing reluctantly in his wake.

It was only a few steps around the corner to the intermediate care area that held five beds in neat order. One of them was occupied by the body of Iron Heart, who was standing on the bed and being held in place only by the tether of an IV line that was still pumping a dextrose solution into him.

“What the hell is going on?” the furious metalworking pony raged, muscles and ribs standing out starkly against his fur.

“Sit down, Arn,” ordered Montcalm evenly. “You’re gonna scare the kids.”

“What the hell is going on?” Iron Heart repeated, in the same furious tone of voice, even if he did sit back down on the bed. “I hear what sounds like an explosion, all kinds of mayhem, and then I hear my wife being brought in.”

“She just… fell down,” Shield Maiden sobbed, tears flowing again, pausing her words for a moment as Montcalm lifted both of Iron Heart’s adopted daughters up onto the bed to join him. “She told us to take care of you, and each other, and then she just… she just…”

Both Seeker and Shield Maiden collapsed into sobs as Montcalm put the three unknown young ponies onto their own beds. Iron Heart immediately turned his priority from outrage to comforting the small ponies clutching to him for comfort.

“Darrell, please,” Iron Heart asked, in a much gentler voice than moments ago. “What’s going on? I—we, need to know.”

“I’ll tell you what I do know,” Montcalm stated, as he checked the three “Pony Doe’s” vitals as he’d been trained to do as the local fire chief, noting with satisfaction that all three seemed stable.. “Something went wrong when the princesses went to move the portal. I don’t know what, but the portal collapsed, explosively. As near as I can tell they were sucked into it when it collapsed. Them and that American reporter who was with them.”

“Oh shit,” Iron Heart breathed.

“No swearing,” Shield Maiden chided. The automatic response drawing a fleeting grin from the black furred father.

“At first it looked like our little Shield Maiden had protected everybody,” continued the mayor, noting idly that despite being of each of the three pony types, the unknown fillies shared a similar mark of power. “But then all the strength just seemed to go out of Foxfire, and she went down. And we found these three nearby as well. Plus the radios are weird as hell, and anything with a transistor is flipping a coin as whether or not it plans on working today.”

“EMP?” Iron Heart asked, carefully using his forelegs to hug both girls. “Like a nuke?”

“Again, I don’t know,” the older man replied, turning away from the sleeping ponies to the awake trio. “Maybe a magic nuke. Or something like it. It could explain why Jean collapsed, and why all the pony abilities seem to be down to practically nothing.”

“What?” Iron Heart asked, eyes wide as he quickly looked over both girls who by now were each buried under a blanket beside him. “You mean we’ve lost our powers?”

“Near as I can tell,” Montcalm stated. “I’ll have to check around to be sure, but the girls here, Foxfire, Medevac and every other pony I’ve talked to can do barely a fraction of the things they did before.”

“And what about Foxfire. What about Jean?” Arnold Kye asked from behind Iron Heart’s eyes, and two other sets of pony eyes asked the same fearful question alongside of his.

“For now, she’s stable. Her pulse and breathing are strong and steady, and there’s no sign of wounds or anything else,” Montcalm assured the worried family in front of him. For the moment he wasn’t talking to one of his fire crew and two of the five ponies who had saved the town a few months ago. He was talking to three people who were afraid they had spoken to their loved one for the last time.

“The good news is she doesn’t look like she’s in any danger of leaving us any time soon,” Montcalm continued, emphasizing the good. “My guess is that the portal going up like it did knocked her for a loop, along with all the pony abilities.”

“But all of our abilities were powered by Equestrian magic,” Iron Heart responded, looking at his night dark fur. “So were our transformations.”

“Yeah,” Montcalm replied in realization. “That might be a problem. By the way, where’s Billy? I mean, Iron Hoof?”

“He was by for a couple of hours earlier,” Iron Heart informed the mayor, his face grimacing at the memory of his son yelling at him that he was not allowed to die for a long time yet. “He’s over at Pegasus Place.”

“Where?” Montcalm queried, curious at never having heard the name before.

“The Harding’s place,” explained the smith.

“They’re all pegasuses,” added Seeker, calmer now. “Tho, we call their house ‘Pegasus Place’.”

“Makes sense,” the mayor allowed, letting himself smile a bit. “When you girls are ready, I’ll drive you over to their place. I’m pretty sure Lynn and Ernie won’t mind another pony sleepover.”

Under the blankets there was a reflexive move on both sides of Iron Heart to move even closer in against the bed-bound adult pony.

“Not until you are ready to go,” assured Montcalm. “Speaking of which, I’m going to go check and see if there is any news about Foxfire. Can you kids keep an eye on these sleeping ponies for me, and maybe find out their names when they wake up?

“I don’t recognize them,” Shield Maiden replied, poking her head out from under the blanket to look at the trio of strange ponies on their beds. “And I know every pony whose gotten their mark of power in town.”

“Yeah, so if you could keep an eye on them too, I’d appreciate it,” added the older man, pleased that he had been able to give the worried youngsters something else to focus their attention on. “If they do wake up, ask them who they are and who their parents are.”

And meanwhile, forgotten in all the chaos and confusion, five bronze swords lay on the floor of Iron Heart's workshop. The glow coming from their inner fires continued unabated.


“Where in Tartarus is Applebloom?” Applejack demanded, nose to nose with her one of her best friends. “Yer one of my friends, but Applebloom is kin, so I’m gonna ask this nicely one last time. WHERE IS APPLEBLOOM!”

“Earth,” Luna said simply, gently nudging the outraged earth pony away from an emotionally devastated Twilight Sparkle. “Applebloom is on Earth.”

“What? Why?” begged Applejack, outrage turning to fear and worry.

“And Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked, heart in her mouth as her own search had come up empty.

“Scoots too,” added Rainbow Dash. “All three of them?”

“I fear so,” Luna answered, drawing the attention of the three adult ponies, her sides still bearing scorch marks from her passage through the wormhole.

“Why?” Applejack repeated. “They weren’t that close. Why did the portal scoop them up and not anypony else?”

“It’s called the ‘Law of Equivalent Exchange’,” Twilight said quietly, head, wings and tail low and drabbing. “What is given, must also be taken away.”

“Then why not you an’ Starlight?” Applejack shot back, before regretting her tone as she saw the pain on the faces of both mages. “Ah’m sorry Twi, but why not you an’ Starlight? Yer like a sister to me, but Applebloom IS mah sister, an’ just a kid.”

“Because we weren’t the last ponies to touch the portal,” added an equally guilt ridden Starlight Glimmer, carrying a piece of wreckage from the portal mechanism in her magic. “Somepony put a potion onto this. A potion with a lot of herbs in it.”

“Zecora,” Rarity growled, in a most unlady-like way. “I’ve been meaning to do something special with that mare for awhile now.”

“Peace Rarity,” Luna counseled, noting her sister directing rescue efforts even while she carried an unconscious grey earth pony with white streaks on her back. “Zecora has never caused harm to anyone in Ponyville, either through deed or failure to act, and is it not thy sister who is something of an apprentice to the shaman?”

“Yer not sayin’ Applebloom did this?” Applejack growled, getting right into the face of the Lunar Princess. “Cause if’n you are, you an’ me are gonna have words. Mare to mare.”

“Tree sap,” Twilight interjected, drawing attention to herself again.

“Oh crap,” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, planting a face firmly in her hoof. “You’re right.”

“Burnt juice… “ Rarity murmured, her eyes going wide.

“What are y’all talking about?” Applejack asked, confused as she tried to process anger, fear, outrage and now nonsensical words from her friends.

“The Crusaders are sort of a force of chaos when all three of them get together, is what she means,” Fluttershy piped up, having come to town to help any hurt animals. “Discord likes them.”

“Oh… oh that thinking is twistier than a river crossed with a snake,” Applejack realized, plopping herself onto her haunches. “And ah hate to say it, but y’all make sense. The Crusaders would have wanted to help, an’ it’s just like them to mess it up in a big way.”

“Indeed,” Luna said, nodding. “Twilight, dost thou have any idea on how we can retrieve the farflung foals, or return Miss Velasquez to her home?”

“The portal is gone,” Twilight answered, and every pony present could hear the despair in the voice of the Princess of Friendship. “The mirror’s shattered, practically vaporized, and the mechanism Starlight and I built around it is in a million pieces.”

“So.... “ Rainbow began, trying to be encouraging, “That just means it’s kind of hard to put it all back together, right? You’re like the Princess of Eggheads, and when it comes to magic Starlight’s practically an alicorn too. Shouldn’t be more than a couple of days, right?”

“It doesn’t matter how strong either of us are, or how good we are with magic,” Twilight responded, and the agony in her voice wiped away the last of Applejack’s anger. “There are an infinite number of alternate dimensions. We could search every day for a thousand years and still not be any closer to finding Earth. I’m sorry Applejack, but without some way of pinpointing the way back to Earth, we are never going to see the Crusaders again.”

Author's Note:

And so now, we begin the second Act of our story. The perils, players and problems have been ponderously placed in the plot to allow us to move forward in the story. Also, I'm sort of curious to see if anyone can figure out all four languages that came from Ben's radio.


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