Finding Allies in Unexpected Places
Dan's Comments
DISCLAIMER: My Little Pony is the property of Hasbro, Inc. Harry Dresden is the property of Jim Butcher, Carl Kolchak is the property of ABC/Universal Television, Ranma Saotome is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, Sailor Jupiter is the property of Naoko Takeuchi.

Patrick hadn't known what the little filly with the crown was saying, but she had made clear there were four of these rapacious idiots, not three, and number four had raced away flying nape of the earth in the direction of something important.

A suite of detection spells were basically screaming, 'no you idiot the ponies are all behind you', but a faint whisper drew the man forward. A few small groups were far outside the town, but one trace wasn't moving. Unusual for a farm away from sleep or mealtime. That was his target as he too flew low and circled around to come at the idiot from a direction opposite the way to town.

Three fillies in a force cage, a winged idiot with a horn, and no one else as he lounged around a tree with a treehouse in it. Problem was, he was getting three targets, not four. Which means that either those things aren't ponies, he thought, Or its stealthed, or they are stealthed. Let's hope they aren't good strategists.

"Thought you Crusaders could just hide in your fort and no-pony would find you?" the alicorn laughed, and ignored whatever the fillies said in return. Although the one with the hairbow's assertion got a chilling response. "I'm counting on it. I want them to watch what happens to you."

Patrick dug up a bit of soil, used it as a focus to form a simulacrum, before casting an anti-magic field on the force cage and sending in the decoy. If these idiots use a different substrate and path, I just gave the game away, he thought, then relaxed as the force cage vanished.

The simulacrum gestured, as Patrick teleported the fillies back towards town.

"Well, a hero, but you ruined our fun," the alicorn growled.

'Our', Patrick thought, This is not going to end well, as two more alicorns appeared and cast restraining spells on the simulacrum, Okay two more, I'm going to keep hiding and watching for how many more of these bastards show up. I thought they were showing up one at a time. Wait a second, maybe she meant there were four of them that headed out here. I hate it when things get `interesting`.
------------------------------

Carl wasn't used to being hailed as a hero, but the ponies he'd sheparded to safety certainly thought he was. There seemed to be some agreement among the other groups that his organizing the running away had been worthy of recognition.

"Kids," he explained to Dresden as another mother hugged Carl for having corralled the kids and gotten them out of the line of fire. To say that Dresden was taking the paucity of accolades directed at him badly was an understatement. "Well, you did toast most of their homes."

"It wasn't my fault," Harry replied, "There were too many of them."

"Funny how the guy shooting fire isn't at fault for setting buildings on fire," Carl replied, "I'm actually glad you and your kind stick to the shadows. We couldn't survive too much active 'help' from people like you. Maybe Patrick could teach you some extinguishing spells, or do only Outsiders know how to clean up their messes?"

Makoto separated the two. "I'm sure there's something both of you can do separately." Carl watched Dresden muttering something as he marched off. "Okay, where'd Patrick run off to?" she asked.

"I don't know," Carl admitted, "I was basically trying to keep my head down, and keep the others moving to safety." He briefly considered the woman. "How do you relate to the public?"

"People don't recognize that the senshi are, when in our normal identities," Makoto said, "And since the manga is out, a lot of what we do is dismissed as a publicity stunt. For us, we need time not to be 'saviors of the world' and just be regular people."

Carl nodded and accepted another tearful accolade from a family.
------------------------------

Makoto was worried. Patrick and Ranma need keepers, not friends, she thought as she headed in the direction the filly in the tiara had sent Patrick, Normally they're level headed enough, but when kids need rescuing, it's as if they suddenly think of themselves as disposable. 'Pot meet kettle.'

She heard the voices, and nearly didn't slow down.

"Come on, squeal."

"Mebee he likes it too much?"

"Well you sure like it."

"Just ready for when Applejack gets here."

She peeked through a bush, and the world clouded with a red mist. She'd faced enemies, enemies who'd threatened to `marry her` and all that implied, but none of them, not her foes, nor Patrick's, nor Ranma's were doing what these bastards were doing to Patrick, and then planned to repeat on the ponies. She blinked and the mist cleared, the anger left her. She felt oddly serene as she'd seen with Ranma in practice or when Patrick was scheming, but never felt it herself. She was concerned, not worried, that she was feeling it now, but she'd consider that later.

She made no speech, called no attack, she fired three quick bursts into the trio. One went down instantly, the other two staggered away from the broken, bleeding, naked figure they'd been holding down while their friend had been torturing him.

Her next shot met shields, but most of it got through. Enough to set the alicorn on fire in several places. She ignored him as he flailed in the dust to extinguish himself. Her fists rose and fell on the last, shattering his shield and most of the skeleton beneath, then removed feathers, hair and teeth. A blow went wide as someone grabbed her arm. She turned and regarded who had spoiled her aim.

"I appreciate the sentiment," Patrick told her, clothed, unbloodied and unbruised, as the brutalized figure returned to the dirt from which it had been formed, "But we need them alive, at least one."

Every emotion she felt crashed down on her: relief he was unhurt, rage at him and them for what she'd seen, horror at what she'd done and planned to do, joy he was with her and not horrified by her action, and an odd sadness she couldn't in good conscience finish what she started.

She settled on hugging him till his ribs creaked.

"Ha, I knew I'd draw you out!" another voice called out, "And now -"

BOOM.

The winged, now-hornless unicorn flew out of the woods' upper branches and crashed into the ground. He twitched once then lay still.

Ranma lowered the .45 from the stance he'd shot the late-arriving alicorn from. "And now it drew you out," Ranma said, as he safed the pistol.

The only one left in condition to speak looked at Ranma. "But guns are a dishonorable weapon."

Ranma squatted next to the alicorn. "Even if that was true, they'd be perfect to use on you," Ranma said, mirroring the icy calm that Makoto had felt a few moments earlier.

Makoto glanced worriedly over at the two boys, men, Patrick to Ranma, she knew they had both seen her, what she had done. The other senshi would never have approved.

The kiss on the forehead shocked her. The one-armed hug from behind stunned her more.

"We like someone who'll charge to our rescue," Patrick told her as he kissed her again.

"Yep," Ranma said as he hugged her.

"I am going to - YIPE!" one of the fallen winged unicorns said.

"How does she hit there without trying to aim?" Ranma asked as he kept an arm around Makoto's waist and stared at the curled up alicorn.

"She just channels the frustration from dealing with us, like the Force," Patrick said, and cast a spell that bound the alicorns to the ground.

"Okay," Ranma said and rubbed his hands together, "I picked up your tools along with the backup pistol. You two go 'discuss' and I'll have a chat with this one, and any of the others who wake up."

Makoto blushed, remembering the first time he and she had nearly died, a week or two before they'd met Ranma, and what they'd done together afterwards. She leaned into Patrick as Ranma released her. She took the lead and led Patrick into the woods.

------------------------------

Returning from the Los Pegasus City Hospital, he had two pieces of good news. First, the alicorns had left the city, seriously reducing the chance that they'd interfere with his activities, and second, Posey had brief periods of wakefulness. Her unconsciousness was no longer a coma, but regular, restful sleep.

I should visit her, he thought as he approached the bakery, Make her squeak and tell her all of what's going on. Or maybe not, act like a completely cucked knight and tell her the complete, unvarnished truth. If she confronts me on it, I can always tell her I told her.

He was nearly chuckling about that, when he felt the disturbance within the bakery warned him that the symptoms weren't the disease.

He entered normally, as his senses had not yet picked up the intrusion. The security system was providing enough information that targeting would be possible, if imprecise.

Leveling the building remains an option, he considered as the elves stepped out of their hideyholes.

"The Lords of Krevinim, representatives of the Queen," Baker said. Scotty looked like he was ready to eat old paint and spit bullets. Before he could introduce himself, the leader sneered.

"You are a pony, you think I would be impressed by you?" the Elflord asked, "You are a game children play."

"Very advanced children, to game with Oloristyar Fëarámalócë," he told the elf, "Or has it been long enough that your kind has forgotten Uitorembina." He glanced at the elves' rapidly dampening shoes and sniffed the air, "Apparently not. However, I am the owner, I fulfilled the Queen's conditions, and I give you leave to depart with the news." He nodded to them.

And hope bloomed on the elvish faces, he thought, Can't have that.

"Unless," he said and grinned at their resurgence of terror, "You wish proof of bloodletting to take back to your Queen." He glanced around, tapping a hoof on his chin as if trying to choose which of their party would provide the proof. He wouldn't kill them, just damage them enough they'd live out the rest of their long lives in disfigurement and physical agony. The disfigurement and resulting social agony would be worse of the two torments.

One of the smartest, although not highest ranked, managed to blurt out, "Your word is sufficient. Thank you." He bowed and departed before his allies had the insight to do so as well.

Unfortunate, he thought, They followed suit so quickly.

"The contract was with the Queen I take it?" he asked Baker and Scotty.

"Aye," Scotty said, "And those jackanapes tho' we'd crumble ta them."

"They're so used to lying about their status, they've come to believe it," Baker replied, "As you said, if our contract is with the Queen, it is she who must fulfill it."

He nodded. "Good news is we'll be open for business at regular hours." He waited while they cheered. "The bad news is that the Equestrian nobles are getting suspicions, so I'd gin up some 'typical' working clothes for the inevitable meeting."

"Can't you keep them away?" Runner asked.

"I can, and they'll redouble their efforts to speak to you," he told them, "To ensure I'm not enslaving you myself."

He shrugged and let the elves laugh at the absurdity of a nonelf ever enslaving an elf, without the elves killing the enslaver, horribly and brutally.

Author's Notes:

Spark winged dragon - fëarámalócë
scholar, learned man - istyar
vision, dream - olos (olor-)

rembina - entangled
uito (interjection) - it is not that (emphatic word for no?)