Brightly Lit 2: Pharos

by Penalt

Chapter 30: A New Normal

Good evening, British Columbia. Ted Chernecki here with the Global Evening News. Tonight’s top story centres around the now global phenomena of magic. Once a staple of fantasy novels and high adventure, our world is now having to come to grips with the fact that magic is not only real, but it is now a growing world-wide phenomenon.

We go now to Jordan Janower, in Brightly, British Columbia. Jordan?

Thank you Ted. This past year has seen our world change in ways that any of us would have thought impossible even a few months ago. The discovery that we are not alone in the universe. The discovery of entirely new levels of reality that humanity could only fantasize about before, and all of it coming from this small, isolated village on BC’s north coast.

That is until last week.

Last week, one of the ponies of Brightly, a young pony known only as Seeker, sacrificed the Equestrian version of Excalibur and in doing so, extended the touch of magic around the world in a display that was witnessed by most of the inhabitants of our entire planet. Each of the five nations of the United Nations Security Council, plus the current chair nation of Ireland, have now confirmed that there is now a small, but growing source of magic in each of their nations.

The governments of England, France and the United States have each confirmed that the source of magic in their countries is an Equestrian apple tree that has sprouted in each of their countries, and while Russian and Chinese authorities have responded with “no comment” it’s reasonable to assume that they also have them as well. In each case, these trees are growing from the seeds of apples harvested from a fully grown tree here in Brightly that apparently is the source of all magic and magical abilities in a nine to ten kilometre radius

We tried to find the tree, which is apparently somewhere in the woods near the town, but were turned away by the heavily armed soldiers who have formed a security contingent for the community for some time now. Nor were we able to find the mysterious “Seeker” for an interview. We asked around in town but were met with a wall of silence by most and open hostility by others.

We did ask about the reason for the anger toward our crew, and while no one was willing to go on camera about it, anonymous sources in town told us that there has been at least one kidnapping attempt against some of the younger ponies in town. An attempt that apparently came with a hairsbreadth of success and ever since then the citizens of Brightly have decided that the best policy is to keep their ponies as unknown as possible.

In the meantime though, it seems that the actions of the enigmatic Seeker has restored the power of magic in and around Brightly, and it only remains to be seen if the Brightly magical phenomena is about to be repeated around the world. An outcome that now seems extremely likely. Back to you, Ted.

---

Foxfire happily puttered away in her kitchen. It was a bright and shiny summer morning in Brightly and everything seemed right with the world. Her children were happy and playing in the living room with a brand new Xbox, the Hardings were reveling in the growth of their family with the addition of the CMC to their brood, her pregnancy seemed to be progressing well, and her love life was progressing very well. All of which combined to create a unicorn who practically danced about humming a tune as her magic enabled her to do three tasks at once in her kitchen.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing you doing that,” commented Lieutenant Ram, occupying as spot in the kitchen where she could watch Foxfire’s back door, kitchen, living room and front door simultaneously. It had taken some time for the pegasus to find the perfect spot to watch over Foxfire’s family, but the military pony took her duties seriously and perseverance had paid dividends.

“Doing what?” Foxfire asked, pausing in her twisting of garlic bulbs together in a long chain.

“Three things at once while not even at one of them,” Pumpkin Spice pointed out, her cornsilk coloured pony eyes flicking around in yet another sweep of the area before settling back on Foxfire. “Wish I could do three pieces of paperwork at once. Being an officer sucks.”

“Just another reason why I hated being in charge of anything,” Foxfire replied, turning her attention back to the fresh garlic. “But this is just me multitasking with magic. What about you though, have you tried using your own magic yet?”

“Watch this,” Pumpkin Spice said with a smile, as she smoothly slid off the stool she was on and laid her P90 weapon on the table.

Foxfire watched with a smile as the pegasus took a deep breath and rearing up on her hind legs, folded her wings around her body. A moment later, when the pony came back down and returned all four hooves to the ground, Foxfire suddenly realized she couldn’t focus her gaze on her bodyguard anymore. Every time she tried to pin her eyes to the spot that she knew Pumpkin Spice was, they just sort of slid away to another part of the kitchen.

The pegasus released the breath she had been holding and just as quickly everything returned to normal. “Well, what do you think?” she asked, looking over to her host.

“It’s like you’ve got a perception filter running! Even though I knew you were there, it was almost impossible to actually look at you,” happily remarked Foxfire, not so discreetly checking the mare’s flanks. “No mark though?”

“Not yet,” admitted the pegasus, taking a moment to again scan the area for threats, before returning her attention to the happily bouncy unicorn. “Likely because I haven’t really done anything special with my talent yet.”

Foxfire was about to reply when Pumpkin Spice’s radio crackled, “Three females, young looking, just opened the front gate to Foxfire’s yard. No apparent weapons or threat.”

“I’ll be on your right, between you and the living room,” Pumpkin Spice immediately told Foxfire, suddenly all business. In the living room, the game of carts and shells was paused as the unicorn’s three children picked up on the change in mood. A few seconds later, heavy footsteps sounded on the front steps followed a moment later by a firm trio of knocks on the door.

Foxfire took a breath, looked over approvingly at Pumpkin Spice and her readied but not raised P90, and pulled open the door with her magic.

There on the unicorn’s doorstep were three young women, each of who was dressed in what Iron Heart liked to call, “Gothy McGoth” clothing. Black leather, knee high platform boots covered tattered black hose and fishnets, which disappeared under black shorts. Each of the three slightly undernourished looking women wore their own version of a tattered black top.

One of them, a brunette with hair so black and lifeless it looked like it had been dipped into a can of flat black paint, wore a necklace with a large silver ankh attached to it. The second woman, a blond with dark roots showing, wore a pentacle and carried what looked like a heavily stuffed backpack. The third also carried a backpack, and wore a black collar with dangling rings that chimed as her head rocked back from the appearance of the unicorn in front of them.

“Yes?” Foxfire asked, coolly. The unicorn may have sounded calm and collected, but by now Pumpkin Spice had been a pony long enough to pick up on what a lashing tail meant and she adjusted her wing hold on her weapon ever so slightly.

“F-Foxfire?” the brunette asked, the surprise on her face evident. “A-are you Foxfire? The witch?”

“I am,” Foxfire replied, bracing for a fight.

“PLEASE TEACH US MAGIC!” burst out all three at once, falling to their knees and bowing their heads to the unicorn.

“Wait, what?” the unicorn asked, completely taken aback by the sudden change in the situation. Beside her, Pumpkin Spice did her best to restrain a snicker even as her opposite wing made a “stay there” gesture to Iron Hoof, Seeker and Shield Maiden who had already begun to move toward the door with eyes afire with curiosity.

“Please Foxfire, O favoured servant of the Goddess, teach us your ways,” answered the black haired woman, raising her hands above her head, palms up in supplication. “Teach us magic and the ways of true witchcraft.”

“We’ll do anything,” added the woman with the aging dye job. “Anything you want.”

“I… uh,” Foxfire babbled, still trying to get her mind up to speed.

“Sorry,” murmured Pumpkin Spice. “When we had the full detachment here we turned away dozens of people like this. With the reduced cordon these must have snuck through”

“I’ll handle it,” sighed Foxfire, but before she could turn back to the three goths, her daughter interrupted her.

“Mom, what if they really do wanna learn?” Shield Maiden asked, from the far side of Pumpkin Spice's wing. “Do we really just want to send them away? What if we send them away and they learn bad things?”

That made Foxfire hesitate. What if she sent these three away and one of them was as gifted as she was? What if they attracted an Umbral like she had? Even with her friends and family watching out for her, the creature of dark magic had caught up Foxfire and Medevac in its grasp with ease. What would it do to three novices with no support?

“Stop that stupid bowing and look at me,” Foxfire commanded, and the three women lifted their heads. “There is a darkness and danger in magic, and the stronger you are in it the easier it will be to fall into the grip of things that will eat you alive for the strength they can steal from you. I’m not exaggerating this. It nearly happened to me. Do you still want to learn magic, knowing the danger?”

“We uh,” began brunette wearing the collar, “we pretty much sold everything we had to get up here. We decided that there wasn’t any point in not fully committing to you and learning magic. Please Mistress Foxfire, let us learn from you.”

“Two things right off the bat then,” Foxfire stated, deciding on her course. “First, I’m not ‘Mistress’ anything. The name is ‘Foxfire’ or ‘Mrs. Pedersen’ to use my human name.”

“Second,” continued Foxfire, pausing a moment as her three children easily evaded Pumpkin Spice’s warding wing and closed up around their mother. “I am a wood witch, and that means that the forest is my temple. If you are going to study under me, that means learning the ways of the woods.”

“Yes Ma’am,” said the three, in near lockstep with each other, their eyes all flicking over the three youngsters before returning to Foxfire.

“Iron Hoof and Shield Maiden here are going to take you out to Carmanah Lake,” said the white unicorn, noting the small wince the three women made. “You are going to spend three days there gathering herbs for me and spending time with nature. If you come back into town before the third sunrise I’ll assume you don’t want to learn from me and proceed accordingly.”

“Um, we don’t have any camping gear,” replied the pentacle wearer.

“Which is why I’m going to lend you my family’s stuff. Take good care of it,” Foxfire responded. “Iron Hoof, Shield Maiden, could you please take these ladies around to the garage and show them where our camping gear is.”

“C’mon,” said Iron Hoof, trotting past his mother and past the three women, before making a smart right turn to curl around the building. The prospective students stared blankly for a moment, before getting to their feet.to follow the pony, Shield Maiden flanking them.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” replied the collar wearing brunette. “You won’t regret this.”

“Just do your best and remember, magic is wonderful, but it’s also dangerous,” Foxfire said, and the woman scurried to catch up to the others.

“Did you want me to do anything, Mom?” Seeker asked, leaning against her mother’s side.

“Try to keep an eye on them, okay?” Foxfire asked, giving her daughter a warm nuzzle. “Let me know if you see anything odd.”

“Okay!” chirped the youngest of the Furred Five, who happily dashed after the rest now that she had a role to play as well.

“So… minions?” Pumpkin Spice asked, once the group was firmly buried in the Pedersen garage to dig out camping supplies.

“Please Goddess, no,” groaned the unicorn. “The last thing I need or want is worshippers, minions or followers.”

“Then why do this with them?” the pegasus asked.

“Because magic is dangerous, and maybe I can help them avoid some of my mistakes,” Foxfire answered. “At least this way I’ll have three days to figure out what to do next.”

Neither pony was aware that the witch’s words were being listened to by an unseen party that neither even suspected was present.

Author's Note:

This was all I was able to write in October following the death of my brother. I'm hoping the coming month is better.

Comments

[Velvet-Fresh]

You got my prayers about your brother. Don't rush with the fanfic if things are hectic right now, but I do like the update. Hope Equestria manage to re open the portal.

[A.P.O.N.I.]

My condolences about your brother.

I think those three young women would be better served by reading Pterry Pratchett than watching The Craft.

[ToMahkAros]

Sorry to hear that mate, take all the time you need and do not force yourself to do anything that you feel is overwhelming. Peace unto you and yours.

[redandready45]

Sorry about your brother.

[coyotethetrickster]

11414593
mash went off air before i was born. i still know the references as i've seen the reruns.

[Teraunce]

Sorry to hear about your loss.